'% 


Colonel  BENNETT   H.  YOUNG. 


A^  t^>6x^  HI  STORY  ^ 


of  tHE 


Battle  of  Blue  Licks 


Bennett  H.  Young 

Author  of  "History  of  the  Constitutions  of  Kentucky,"  President  of  the 
Polytechnic  Society  of  Kentucky,  Member  of  the  Filson  Club 


'  He  uho  dies  for  a  good  cause  never  dies  in  vain ' 


LOUISVILLE 

JOHN    P   MORTON   AND   COMPANY 

1897 


1      I »-'   » 


?  PREFACE. 

N 

N 

'^  'T^HERE  is  no  monument  at  the  battle-field  of  the  Blue 
K  ^  Licks  to  commemorate  the  valor  and  chivalry  of 
w  those  who,  on  its  rugged  hillsides  and  in  the  Valley  of  the 
■^  Licking,  gave  their  lives  for  the  protection  of  the  settle- 
ments then  scattered  over  the  three  counties  into  which 
Kentucky  was  divided. 
Q  This   conflict   was   the    last    battle   of  any   consequence 

a  in  Kentucky  between  the  settlers  and  the  savages.  In 
it,  some  of  the  most  brilliant  and  courageous  men  who 
lived  in  that  period  of  the  world,  poured  out  their  blood 
for  the  common  defense. 

An    association    has   been    organized    at   Carlisle,    Ken- 
tucky, for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  monument  to  the  men 
^Ns^ho,  on  that  eventful  day,  perished  in  that  conflict. 
^N^x^  The    history   of    the   Battle    of    Blue    Licks,    contained 

in  the  succeeding  pages,  was  written  at  the  request  and 
for  the  use  of  the  Filson  Club,  of  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
as  a  sequel  to  the  history  of  the  Siege  of  Bryant's  Station, 
and  it  is  a  part  of  the  Twelfth  Volume  of  the  Filson 
Club   Publications. 


385139 


iv  Pyeface. 

By  the  courtes)-  of  the  Ckih.  throu<;li  its  president, 
Colonel  K.  T.  Durrett.  this  account  is  published  in  sep- 
arate form  and  with  the  hope  of  creating  an  interest  in 
an  efiort  to  erect  a  fitting  memorial  on  the  battle-field. 

The  officers  of  the  131ue  Licks  Monumental  Association 
are:  G.  R.  Keller.  President;  Bennett  11.  \'oung,  Vice- 
President  ;  F.  B.  Lindsay,  Second  Vice-President ;  H.  M. 
Taylor.  Secretary  and  Treasurer ;  Rev.  H.  M.  Scudder, 
D.  D.,  Hanson  Kennedy,  Thomas  Hunter,  J.  T.  S.  Brown. 
R.  T.  Durrett,  Directors,  and  they  have  undertaken  to 
secure  a  fund  for  the  purpose  of  placing  over  the  common 
grave  of  the  heroes  who  perished  there  a  stone  of  lasting 
and  appropriate  remembrance. 


INDEX. 

Appendix,         69 

Attack  on  Bryant's  Station,  Summary  of i 

Battle  of  Blue  Licks — Durrett's  Statement  and  Note,      .      .  2 

Battle  of  Blue  Licks — British  Plan  of 81 

Battle  of  Blue  Licks — Sequel  to  Bryant's  Station,       ...  2 

Battle  of  Blue  Licks — Boone,  Colonel  Daniel,  Statement,     .  85 

Battle  of  Blue  Licks — Campbell,  Colonel  Arthur,  Criticism  of,  91 

Battle  of  Blue  Licks — Todd,  Colonel  Levi,  Account  of,         .  89 

Bayonet  against  Tomahawk, 46 

Beginning  of  the  Battle, 43 

Black-letter  Year  in  Kentucky, 13 

Blue  Licks  Battle — Caldwell,  Captain,  Account  of,       ...  78 

Blue  Licks  Battle — McKee,  Captain  Alexander,  Account  of,  81 

Blue  Licks  Battle — Logan,  Colonel  Benjamin,  Account  of,    .  93 

Blue  Licks  Battle — Todd,  Colonel  Levi,  Account  of,         .      .  80 
Boone,  Colonel  Daniel,  Account  of  and  in  the  Action,  34,  37,  50,  100 

Boone,  Colonel  Daniel,  Escape  to  His  Own  Station,         .      .  64 

Boone,  Colonel  Daniel,  Account  of  Battle 85 

Boone,  Colonel  Daniel,  Letter  to   Governor   Benjamin    Har- 
rison (same),         85 

Boone,  Israel 100 

Boone,  Samuel, lOi 

Brown,  J.  T.  S., iv 

Bryans  or  Bryants  not  in  the  Station.      (See  Filson  Club.) 

Bryant's  Station,  Colonel  D.  Boone's  Story  of  the  Siege  of,  85 

Bryant's  Station,  Siege  of,  by  Alexander  McKee,    ....  81 


VI 


Ifli/cX. 


Bryant's  Station.  Siej,'e  of.  by  Captain  Caldwell J'^ 

Bryant's  Station,  Siege  of.  by  Colonel  Levi  Todd,        ...        80 

Bulger.  Captain  John 99 

Burney,  Simon 9^ 

Buffalo  at  the  Blue  Licks 35 

Caldwell,  Captain   William 4 

Caldwell.  Captain  Williaiii,  Letter  in  the  llaldinuind  Papers,  78 
Campbell.  Colonel  Arthur,  on  the  Battle  of  Blue  Licks,  91 

Chickasaw  Indian  Reasons  for  the  War 95 

Clark.  Colonel.  Letter  to  Governor  Benjamin   Harrison,    .      .        72 

Clark,  General  George  Rogers 4-  '9 

Clark,  General  George  Rogers.    Letter    to    Governor    Benja- 
min  Harrison 7' 

Cooper,  Benjamin loi 

Corn,  Esau  (Evan.') 100 

Council  of  War  on  the  Licking 3^-37 

Damage  at  Bryant's  Station,         28 

Date  of  the  attack  on  Bryant's  Station 4-5 

Day's  March  by  Kentuckians 32 

Day's  March  by  Indians 33 

Dead  of  the  Battle  in  One  Common  Grave  on  the  Field.  .  66-67 
Desecration  of  Bodies  of  the  Slain  at  Blue  Licks.  ...  59 
Disorganization  of  the  Militia  Marching  on   Blue  Licks.  .       41-42 

Dress  of  Kentucky   Militia 27-28 

Duncan,  S.  M 5*^ 

Durrett.   Colonel   R.  T iv 

Eads,  William, 100 

Elliott,  Captain  Matthew 23-24 

Ellis,  Captain   William 64.  100 

Extracts  of  Letters — Dissatisfaction  in  Kentucky  Militia.  7^^-77 


Index. 


Vll 


Families  of  the  Slain  in  the  Battle, 3 

Fayette  County  Officers,  Letter  to  Governor  Benjamin  Har- 
rison,       69 

Ferguson,  Charles 100 

Field,  Ezekiel 100 

Fighting  Men  in  Kentucky  Counties  in   1782 4 

First  Sight  of  the  Indians  at  the  Blue  Licks 36 

First  Fire  of  the  Enemy  at  the  Blue  Licks 41-4- 

Floyd,  Colonel  John 4 

Folley,  John, 100 

Food  of  the  Indians  at  Ruddle's  Station, 21 

Food  Rations  Prepared  at  Bryant's  Station, 32 

Forts  in  Fayette  County  in   1782, 4 

Foster.  Daniel 100 

Fry,  John,          100 

Fugitives  Escaped  Through  the  Woods 58 

Girty,  Simon,  Not  in  Command,  Sketches  of,      .      .     20-21,  24-25 

Givins,  Lieutenant  William 99 

Graham,  James  (little) 100 

Graham,  James, 10 1 

Grant,  Squire 10 1 

Greggs,  Daniel 100 

Green,  Jervis 100 

Haldimand,  Sir  Frederick  (Note) 14-15 

Harrodsburg  Advised  of  the  Siege  of  Bryant's  Station,    .     .  6 

Harlan,  Silas,         11,  99 

Harget,  Peter 10 1 

Harris,  William 100 

Ha}den,  Benjamin, loi 

Hinson,  Lieutenant  (Hanson  ?), 99 


Vlll 


Index. 


Heroines  Who  Went  for  Water 62 

Historic  Importance  of  Bryant's  Station  Siege  ?       .      .      .      .  2 

Horrors  of  the  Retreat  from  the  Licks 49 

Horses  of  Kentuckians  Mounted  by  the  Pursuing  Indians,     49-50 

Hunter,  Thomas iv 

Indian  Signs  not  Hidden  as  they  Retreated  toward  Blue  Licks,  31 

Indians  did  not  Avoid  Pursuit 32 

Indian  Scouts  Watched  the  Kentucky  Militia  Advance,    .      .  35 

Indians  Under  Tree  Coverts  at  the  Blue  Licks 44 

Invasion  of  Indian  Country  the  W^ay  to  Subdue  Them,        .      95-96 

Jealousies  of  Pioneer  Kentuckians, 19 

Johnson,  Captain  Samuel,         100 

Keller,  G.  R iv 

Kennedy,  Hanson iv 

Kentuckians  Reach  Licking  Bottom 35 

Kentuckians  Meet  Defeat  at  Blue  Licks 44 

Kentuckians  Killed  at  Ford  of  Licking, 50 

Killed  Crossing  the  Licking 50 

Killed  on  the  Hill 90 

Killed  in  the  Retreat 45-49 

Kincheloe's  Station  Destroyed 96 

Kincaid,  James 101 

Kincaid,  Captain  Joseph 99 

Letter  of  Daniel   Boone 7^,  85 

Letter  of  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell 91 

Letter  of  Captain  Caldwell 78 

Letter  of  General  George  Rogers  Clark 71 

Letter  of  Colonel  S.  Clark 72 

Letter  of  Fayette  County  Officers 68 

Letter  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Logan 93 


Index.  ix 

Letter  of  Alexander  AIcKee 8i,  85 

Letters  of  Colonel  Levi  Todd, 80,  89 

Letters  of  Andrew  Steele,        74,  97 

Lincoln  Volunteers  the  Greatest  Sufferers 64 

Lindsay,  F.  B. iv 

List  of  Killed  at  the  Blue  Licks  (Kentuckians),  .  .  .  99-100 
List  of  Survivors  of  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks,  .  100-10 1 
Logan,  Colonel  Benjamin,  of  Lincoln  Militia,  Sketches  of, 

4,  60,  61,  65,  66,  93 

Logan's  Arrival  at  Bryants, 60 

Logan's  Start  to  the  Battle-Field, 60 

Logan's  Meeting  the  Fugitives 61 

Logan's  Second  Start  to  Blue  Licks 65 

Logan's  Final  Return  to  Station, 66 

Logan's  Letter  to  Governor  Harrison, 93 

Logan's  Account  of  the  Battle, 93 

Marshall,  Gilbert, 100 

Manner  of  March  of  Militia  from  Bryant's  Station,     .      .       28-29 

May,  William, loi 

McBride,  Francis, 100 

McBride,  Captain  William, 99 

McConnell,  Andrew,        100 

McCracken,  Isaac, 100 

McCullough,  James, loi 

McGary,  Major  Hugh,  Sketch  and  Actions  of,     .       39,  41,  "i"] ,   100 

McKee,  Alexander,  Personal  Mention  of 5,  22,  23.  81 

McKee,  Alexander,  Account  of  the  Battle  of  Blue  Licks,      .       81 

McMurtry,  Ensign  John loi 

Miller,  Henry,        100 

Morgan,  James, 101 


X  Judex. 

Nelson.  John lOO 

Netherland,  Benjamin 54,  56.  loi 

No  Order  of  Retreat  diven   nor   Required 48 

Number  of  Killed  in   Kentucky  from    1775   to    17S2.  4 

Numbers  of  the  Savage  F"oes  (Note) 17 

Of^cers  Killed  at  the  Blue  Licks 46 

Order  of  Rankinj^:  Command  at  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks,  42 

Overton.  Captain  Clouj^h 99 

Patterson,  Robert 53.  'OO 

Percentage  of  Loss  at  Blue  Licks 48 

Percentage  of  Officers  at  Brj-ant's  and  the  Licks,                   .  7-8 

Policy.  Drury 100 

Preface iii 

Prisoners  Who  Returned  from  the  Blue  Licks  (Note).     .      .  58 

Prisoners  Taken  in   1780  by  Captain  Bird 97-98 

Proportion  of  Fighting  Men  Slain  at  the   l)lue  Licks.       .    99.  loi 

Question  of  Waiting  for  Logan's  Men 17 

Rashness  of  Hugh  McGary 41 

Report  of  Mortalit}-  at  Blue  Licks 62 

Retreat  the  Only  Course  at  the  Licks 48 

Retreat  Without  Order 47 

Rose,  Lewis 10 1 

Rose,  James 101 

Rose,  Matthias 100 

Ruddle  and   Martin's  Stations 26 

Salt  of  the  Blue   Licks 36 

Scudder,  H.  M iv 

Siege  and  Battle  Described  by  Andrew  Steele,  .  97-9^ 

Smith,  James 100 

Smith.  William 100 


Index.  xi 

Smith,  John loi 

Steele,  Andrew,  Sketch  and  Actions  of,     .     .     .       65,  76.  98.  10 1 

St.  Asaph's  Advised  of  the  Siege  of  Bryant's 6-7 

Taylor,  H.  M iv 

Things  Explanatory  of  the  Licks,  1782 2-3 

Todd,  Colonel  Levi,  Accounts  of,      ...        6,  7,  12,  80,  89,  100 
Todd,  Colonel  John,  Accounts  of,      .      .      .      5,  7,  9,  10,  17,  42,  99 

Todd  and  Boone  in  Council  (Note) 33 

Trigg,  Colonel  Stephen,  Sketches  of,     .     ,     .     .     .    10,  11,  17,  99 

Twyman,  Stephen, loi 

Wilson,  John • 100 

Wilson,  Israel,        100 

Wilson,  Henry, loi 

Wyandot  Indians -     ....      15.  45-46 

Young,  Bennett  Henderson, i 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Bennett  H.  Young Frontispiece 

Buffalo  Trace  Up  the  Ridge  to  the  Hattle-Field.     .  Opposite  36 

Point  of  Attack  by  the  Indian  Ambuscade.      ...  "        41 

The  Ford  of  the  Licking "        33 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks:  a  Sequel  to  the 
Siege  of  Bryant's  Station. 

BY  COLONEL  BENNETT  H.  YOUNG, 

Member  of  the  FiUon  Club. 

"  I  ^HERE  is  nothing  more  glorious  or  more  heroic  in  all 
■*•  Kentucky's  history  than  the  siege  of  Bryant's  Station, 
nor  is  there  any  thing  more  tragic  or  more  dreadful  in  that 
same  history  than  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  The  one 
was  the  sequel  to  the  other.  Hardly  had  the  plaudits  of  the 
pioneers  for  the  women  of  Bryant's  Station  died  on  the 
stillness  of  the  sultry  August  air  ere  summer  breezes 
carried  the  story  of  the  awful  carnage  and  destruction 
at  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks,  from  the  valley  of  the 
Licking,  by  the  buffalo  traces,  to  the  settlements  on  the 
Kentucky  River. 

The  learning,  the  eloquence,  and  the  scholarship  of 
our  distinguished  President  have  placed  in  attractive  and 
charming  narrative  the  story  of  Bryant's  Station.  You 
have  heard  with  delight  his  beautiful  and  thrilling  account 
of  the  sublime  courage  of  the  jiioneer  Kentucky  women 
on  the  i6th  of  August,  17CS2,  and  now  to  iw^^.  has  been 
assigned  thei  task  of  giving  this  club  some  account  of 
that  terrible   battle,  which  so  left  its  impress  on   Kentucky 


2  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

hearts  and  homes  that  a  century  has  not  been  able  to 
efface  it.* 

Before  enterinj^  upon  the  liistory  of  the  battle  it  is 
necessary  to  deal  with  a  few  historical  facts  and  charac- 
ters, so  that  you  may  more  fully  understand  what  tliat 
battle  meant,  and  what  was  its  cost  to  the  people  of 
Krntuckw 

The  slain  represented  one  thirteenth  of  the  fighting 
men  in  the  three  counties  into  which  the  State  was  then 
divided.  They  were  related  to  nearly  all  the  families 
within  Kentucky's  borders,  and  comprised  in  an  unusual 
ratio  the  enterprise,  the  leadershi}\  and  the  courage  of 
Kentucky  defenders  and  settlers.  The  sacrifice  that  day 
made  was  the  most  costly  which  on  an}-  single  occasion 
war's   demand  had  ever  exacted  from   the  infant  territory. 

*  There  has  been  more  written  about  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks  than 
any  other  event  in  Kentucky  history.  It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  all  the 
statements  in  these  many  accounts.  A  correct  story  of  this  battle  has  only 
become  possible  since  1882.  The  issue  of  what  is  known  as  "The  Calendar 
of  the  Virginia  State  Papers  "  and  the  copying  for  the  Canadian  Archives  the 
Haldimand  Papers  in  the  British  Museum  have  unfolded  all  the  facts  about 
this  event,  parts  of  which  had  remained  concealed  for  over  one  hundred  years. 

The  publication  of  the  third  volume  of  the  Virginia  Calendar  was  made 
in  1883.  Here  first  became  public  the  Kentucky  contemporaneous  accounts 
of  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  The  papers  most  important  and  interesting 
were: 

Letter  of  Andrew  Steele  to  Governor  Harrison,  dated  Lexington,  Ken- 
tucky, August  26,  1782.     Virginia  Calendar,  volume  3,  page  269. 

Report  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Logan  to  Governor  Harrison,  dated  Lincoln 
County,  August   31,   1782.    Virginia   Calendar,  volr.me   3,  page   280. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks,  5 

It  was  not  so  much  that  they  had  died.  Its  commonnesB 
had  robbed  death  of  its  terrors  to  the  Kentucky  pioneer. 
In  the  seven  years  immediately  preceding  this  battle  nine 
hundred  people  had  been  murdered  in  their  homes  or 
gone  down  to  death  in  the  storm  of  battle.  In  this 
period  as  many  had  died  by  violence  as  now  lived  in 
the  State.  It  was  the  suddenness  of  the  calamity  which 
gave  it  so  many  horrors.  It  came  when  every  heart  was 
full  of  pride  at  the  heroic  defense  of  Bryant's  Station. 
When  removed  from  the  din  and  excitement  of  battle 
the  offering  appeared  so  useless  and  so  reckless,  and 
it  did  more  to  excite  public  fear,  to  unsettle  public 
confidence,  and  stimulate  public  alarm  than  the  dreadful 
array  of  all  the  deaths  which  had  marked  all  the  years 
since   1775. 

Letter  of  Levi  Todd  to  Governor  Harrison,  dated  Lexington,  Kentucky, 
September   ii,  1782,     Virginia  Calendar,  volume  3,  page  300. 

Report  of  civil  and  military  officers  of  Fayette  County  to  Governor 
Harrison,  dated  Lexington,  Kentucky,  September  11,  1782.  Virginia  Calen- 
dar, volume  3,  page  301. 

Daniel  Boone's  letter  to  Governor  Harrison,  giving  an  account  of  the 
battle,  dated  Fayette  County,  Boone's  Station,  August  30,  1782.  Virginia 
Calendar,  volume  3,  page   275. 

Report  of  Major  William  Caldwell,  the  British  Commandant,  dated  Waka- 
tamiki  (now  Zanesfield,  Logan  County,  Ohio),  August  26,  1782.  Haldimand 
Manuscripts,  Series  B,  volume    123,  page  297. 

Also  report  of  Captain  Alexander  McKee,  wlio  was  in  command  of  the 
Indians,  dated  same  place,  August  28,  1782.  Haldimand  Manuscripts,  Series 
B,  volume  123,  page  302. 

All  these  jiapers   are  given   in   full   in   the   appendix   to   tliis   article. 


4  TJic  Battle  of  the  Bine  Licks. 

In  1 7^2  there  were  onl)-  ;ibout  a  thousand  fighting 
men  in  the  entire  State.  Om-  hundred  and  fift}-  of  these 
were  in  Fayette  County;  tliat  is.  all  of  the  territory  east 
of  the  Kentucky  River  and  its  middle  fork.  Five  hun- 
dred more  were  in  Lincoln  County,  substantially  hounded 
east  and  nt)rth  1)\-  the  Salt  and  Kentucky  rivers;  and 
the  remainder  were  in  JefTerson  County,  principally  in  and 
around  the  then  town  of  Louisville.  The  vast  territory 
comprised  within  Fayette  County  had  only  five  forts  within 
its  boundary.  Savage  invasion  had  caused  the  remainder 
to  be  evacuated,  and  now  only  Lexington,  McClellan's, 
McConnell's,  Bryant's,  and  Boone's  were  left  to  assert  the 
demands  of  the   whites  for  the  ownership  of  the  land. 

General  George  Rogers  Clark  was  at  Louisville;  he 
was  the  ranking  officer  in  the  territor)-.  He  had  built 
the  fort  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  constructed  a  row- 
boat,  on  which  were  a  few  pieces  of  artillery.  The  boat 
could  be  pulled  up  and  down  the  Ohio  River  by  fifty 
oarsmen,  to  the  point  where  danger  was  most  imminent. 

John  Todd  was  commander  in  Fayette,  Benjamin 
Logan   in    Lincoln,  and  John    hMoyd   in   Jefierson    County. 

There  has  been  quite  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
exact  date  upon  which  Caldwell,  McKee,  and  Elliott,  the 
British  officers,  accompanied  by  Simon  Girty.  George 
Girty,    and     the     Indian    allies,    appeared     before    Bryant's 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  5 

Station.  Levi  Todd  and  Daniel  Boone  both  say  that 
the  Indians  appeared  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th  of 
August.  Colonel  John  Mason  Brown  has  it  on  the  15th. 
Alexander  McKee,  one  of  the  British  officers,  says  they 
arrived  at  Bryant's  Station  on  the  i8th.  Major  Cald- 
well, the  British  commander,  says  it  was  on  the  morning 
of  the  15th.  It  is  not  probable  that  Caldwell  and  McKee, 
in  their  wilderness  campaign,  were  able  to  keep  very 
accurate  diaries,  and  a  careful  calculation  backward  from 
the  day  of  battle  demonstrates  that  it  was  the  i6th  of 
August  when  Caldwell  and  McKee,  piloted  by  Simon 
Girty,  assailed  the  place.  They  had  surrounded  it  during 
the  previous  night.  They  came  like  the  pestilence  that 
walks  in  the  darkness,  unexpected  and  unseen.  They  had 
marched  along  the  buffalo  traces  or  stolen  through  the 
forests  without  having  given  to  any  one  any  notice  of 
their  intention.  They  had  crossed  the  Ohio  River  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Licking,  a  place  where  at  this  season  it 
was  fordable,  and  in  a  little  over  two  day's  time  they  had 
reached  Bryant's  Station;  no  spy  or  scout  had  brought 
tidings  of  the  coming  storm,  and  when  the  morning  light 
dawned  on  the  i6th  of  August,  as  the  men  in  the  fort 
were  about  to  emerge  from  the  gates  for  the  purpose  of 
succoring  Hoy's  Station,  the  crack  of  Indian  rifles  spoke 
to  tell  them  that  they  themselves  were  besieged. 


6  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

Before  the  smoke  of  the  first  discharge  had  ascended 
so  as  to  clear  the  scene  for  conflict,  two  gallant  and 
courageous  men  had  broken  through  the  Indian  cordon 
and,  with  the  swiftness  of  the  wind,  carried  the  story  to 
Lexington  that  Bryant's  Station  was  in  peril. 

Colonel  John  Todd,  the  county  commandant,  was 
in  Lincoln  County,  but  Major  Levi  Todd,  his  l)rother. 
instantly  dispatched  messengers  to  all  the  stations  west 
of  Lexington,  and  called  upon  the  men  of  Lincoln  to 
come  quickly  to  the  rescue  of  the  beleaguered  fort.  By 
the  night  of  the  i6th  the  hard  riding  pioneers  had  car- 
ried the  news  to  Harrodsburg,  and  a  little  later  to  St. 
Asaph's  or  Stanford,  and  when  the  sun  arose  on  the 
morning  of  the  17th  the  men  of  Lincoln,  under  Trigg, 
Harlan,  McBride,  and  the  Bulgers,  were  well  under  way 
toward  Lexington  in  response  to  the  call  of  their  com- 
rades, and  when,  on  Saturday  night,  the  gates  at  Bryant's 
Station  were  closed  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  of  the 
bravest  and  most  gallant  of  the  men  of  Lincoln  were 
within  its  walls  ready  for  consultation  and  to  set  out  for 
the  punishment  of  the  invaders.  With  the  haste  of  a 
rapid  courier  John  Todd  had  hurried  from  Lincoln  to  his 
own  county,  and  was  there  now,  ready  for  action  as  well 
as  for  counsel  with  those  who  had  come  to  help  his  ]ieo- 
ple  in  their  dire  distress. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  7 

One  hundred  and  thirty-five  men  from  Lincoln  and 
forty-seven  from  Fayette  had  now  assembled.  Fully  one 
third  of  them  were  officers  who  in  many  a  combat  and 
on  many  an  expedition  had  shown  their  skill  and  their 
courage.  In  those  days,  cowards  did  not  come  to  Ken- 
tucky. Men  who  faced  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of 
pioneer  life  were  not  only  heroic,  but  they  were  fearless, 
and  of  all  the  band  assembled  there  that  night  there  was 
not  a  single  officer  or  soldier  whom  death  could  alarm, 
or  who  was  not  ready  to  face  an   Indian  foe  on  any  call. 

White  men  then  in  Kentucky  were  brothers;  the  peril 
of  one  was  the  peril  of  all,  and  none  hesitated  to  rush  to 
the  defense  of  any  station  or  cabin  where  the  savage  foe 
had  come;  and  the  camp-fires  which  Caldwell  and  his 
Indians  had  left  kindled  had  not  died  out  ere  the  chivalry 
and  comradeship  of  the  pioneers  had  brought  them  to  the 
spot  where    danger    and   peril  were    thick    on   every  hand. 

The  situation  was  one  which  called  not  only  for  cour- 
age but  for  sagacious  counsel.  This  Saturday  night, 
sultry  and  warm,  and  rendered  even  more  so  by  the 
wooden  inclosure  surrounding  this  little  army,  was  spent 
in  large  part  in  the  preparation  and  consultation  for 
the   morrow's  work. 

A  council  of  war  was  called,  and  by  the  lamps  sup- 
plied   with    bear's    grease,     in    the    cabins    and    fort,    these 


8  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

soldiers  and  these  ofTicers  gathered  for  the  purpose  of 
determininfi  tliat  wliich  was  the  wisest  and  best  under  all 
circumstances. 

The  women  and  children  joined  in  the  excitement  oi 
the  hour,  and  lonj^  after  darkness  brooded  over  the  fort 
they  mingled  with  the  new  comers  and  told  them  of  the 
incidents,  dangers,  and  trium]-)hs  of  the  siege.  The  day 
and  night  of  this  beleaguerment  had  made  heroes  of  even 
the  tots  who  clung  to  their  mothers'  hands,  and  the  story 
of  the  courage  and  daring  of  all  who  had  battled  within 
the  wooden  station  was  rehearsed  with  sympathetic  hearts 
and  to  appreciative  ears.  The  night  had  well  advanced 
before  any  had  sought  repose  on  the  rude  beds  of  the 
pioneer  cabins,  or  rested  themselves  within  the  open  square 
bounded  by  the  palisades. 

John  Todd,  Stephen  Trigg,  and  Daniel  Boone  were 
the  ranking  officers,  and  around  and  about  them  stood 
men  who  had  spent  a  full  share  of  their  lives  in  this 
wilderness,  encompassed  by  the  dangers  which  Indian 
warfare  everywhere  introduced,  and  with  an  experience 
which  not  only  rendered  them  courageous  and  self-reliant 
but  conscious  of  superiority  as  warriors  and   men. 

What  a  jiicture  for  a  painter  was  presented  that 
night!  The  oldest  and  Ijcst  versed  of  all  in  Indian  war- 
fare  was  Daniel   Boone,  who  was  then   about  fifty  years  of 


The  Battle  of  the  Bhte  Licks.  9 

age.*  Thirteen  of  these  years  he  had  hunted  and  fouglit 
in  Kentucky.  Twice  captured  by  the  Indians,  thoroughly 
educated  to  all  their  methods  and  wiles;  even  then,  his 
record  for  skill  and  daring  was  unequaled  by  any  man 
in  all  this  country,  where  every  man  was  skilled  and  daring. 
He  had  already  given  a  brother  and  a  son  to  die  for 
Kentucky's  freedom,  and  he  came  with  another  son  in 
his  company,  and  was  ready  to  go  where  danger  was 
greatest  and  foes  were  thickest. 

Loved  and  respected  by  all,  and  chief  in  command, 
was  John  Todd,  who,  though  only  thirty  years  old,  had 
already  made  a  profound  impression  upon  all  men  with 
whom  he  had  come  in  contact.      He  had  been  in  the  ^rreat 

o 

struggle  at  P'^mt  Pleasant  in  1774,  and  endured  its  baptism 
of  blood;  he  had  ridden  beside  General  Andrew  Lewis  as 
his  Adjutant  General  in  the  Scioto  campaign;  he  had  been 
a  member  of  Henderson's  Legislature  at  Boonesborough  in 

*  The  date  of  Boone's  birth  is  stated  so  differently  that  it  is  iiupussible 
to  give  his  exact  age.  Collins  says  he  was  boru  in  1731;  Flint,  1746; 
American  Biography,  1735;  Marshall,  1746.  John  M.  Pick,  who  visited 
Boone  and  gathered  biographic  facts  from  his  own  lips,  in  his  life  of  him, 
in  the  thirteenth  volume  of  the  Spark's  Series,  gives  his  birth  in  February, 
1735.  In  the  genealogical  chart  of  the  Boone  family,  made  out  by  James 
Boone,  the  birth  of  Daniel  is  given  July  14,  1732.  Boone  himself,  while 
dictating  to  John  Filson,  his  first  biographer,  the  events  of  his  life,  does  not 
seem  to  have  thought  the  date  of  his  birth  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
recorded,  and  hence  it  does  not  appear  in  Filsou's  History  of  Kentucky 
in    1784. 


lo  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

1775;  he  had  been  one  of  tht-  men  who  had  risked  their 
lives  to  go  after  powder  in  I77();  he  had  explored  South- 
western Kentucky  as  far  as  Bowling  Green  in  1775;  he 
had  been  one  of  the  judges  at  the  first  court  of  (juarter 
sessions  in  Kentucky  in  1775;  he  had  been  elected  to  the 
House  of  Burgesses  in  1777  and  1780  and  1782;  he  had 
been  with  George  Rogers  Clark  at  Kaskaskia  and  Vin- 
cennes  in  1778  and  1779;  he  had  been  valiant  and  true 
and  brave  in  all  these  years  of  campaigning,  of  fighting,  of 
danger,  of  surveying,  and  of  legislating.  He  was  the  most 
brilliant  and  l^est  educated  man  in  that  distinguished 
assemblage,  and,  aside  from  rank,  its  recognized  leader. 

Beside  Todd  was  Stephen  Trigg.  Onl}'  three  years 
before  he  had  come  to  Kentucky  as  a  member  of  the 
Court  of  Land  Commissioners,  but  when  he  came  he  left 
all  behind  him;  he  made  Kentucky  his  home,  and  he  was 
ready  now  to  give  up  his  life  for  its  defense.  With  a  high 
degree  of  intelligence,  with  a  splendid  physique,  and  with 
a  chivalrous  bravery,  he  had  become  noted  for  his  activity 
as  an  Indian  fighter,  and  was  now  Lieutenant-Colonel  of 
Lincoln  County.  He  had  been  one  of  the  trustees  who 
laid  off  Louisville,  and  had  also  been  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Burgesses  as  a  representative  from 
Kentucky  County.  He  had  been  a  Justice  of  Lincoln 
County;    he  was  a   member  of   a   court  organized   in    Har- 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  1 1 

rodsburg  in  1781,  and  no  man  commanded  more  of  the 
confidence  and  admiration  of  these  hardy  pioneers  than 
Stephen  Trigg. 

Close  by  him  stood  Silas  Harlan.  He  had  emigrated 
to  Kentucky  eight  years  before,  and  none  had  been  more 
active  in  war.  He  had  commanded  a  company  of  spies 
with  Clark  in  the  IlHnois  campaign  in  1779.  Six  feet  two 
inches  in  height,  of  magnificent  bearing,  Clark  had  said  of 
him  that  he  was  one  of  the  bravest  and  best  soldiers  that 
ever  fought  by  his  side.  In  1778  he  had  built  a  stockade 
on  Salt  River,  seven  miles  from  Harrodsburg;  he  was  one 
of  the  men  who  went  with  James  Harrod  for  the  five 
hundred  pounds  of  powder  which  had  been  brought  down 
the  Ohio  River  for  the  succor  of  the  pioneers.  They 
started  out  on  the  7th  of  January,  1777,  passing  by  George- 
town and  Blue  Licks,  and  they  had  been  successful  in 
their  efforts  to  transport  this  most  important  of  all  supplies 
into  the  Kentucky  forts.  He  had  signed  the  protest  of 
the  pioneers  against  Henderson  and  Company  to  the 
Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  in  1775.  He  came  to  Ken- 
tucky with  James  Harrod  in  1774,  and  in  courage  and  in 
experience  he  had  no  superior. 

Then  close  by  him  was  Major  Levi  Todd.  While 
less  brilliant  and  not  so  well  educated  as  his  brother 
John,  he  was  yet  a  real  soldier.      He  had  settled  a  station  in 


12  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

Jessamine  Count)',  nut  far  from  Xichulasville,  in  1779,  and 
had  moved  in  1780  to  Lexington  for  safety.  He  had  been 
captain  of  the  company  from  Lexington  and  Bryant's 
Station  in  Bowman's  expedition  in  1779;  he  had  been  clerk 
of  the  court  of  sessions  at  liarrodsburg  in  1777.  and  sheriff 
of  the  county.  In  the  absence  of  his  brother  he  had  hur- 
ried the  messenger  forward  with  tidings  of  the  assault 
on  Bryant's  Station.  It  was  liis  inspiration  and  noble 
examjile  that  had  nerved  the  seventeen  horsemen  to  break 
through  the  Indian  lines  and  enter  tlie  fort  during  the 
afternoon  of  the  i()tb.  He  himself  was  on  foot,  and  had 
been  driven  back  to  Lexington,  but  now  he  was  at  Bryant's 
again  to  endure  all  and  bear  all  that  awaited  his  fellow- 
countymen  and  their  allies. 

McGary  and  the  Bulgers  and  McBride  were  there  too. 
They  had  seen  nearly  all  that  was  to  be  seen  of  the  battles 
in  and  about  Kentucky,  and  though  less  known  to  history 
they  were  not  wanting  in  that  same  high  courage  which 
marked  the  other  leaders. 

The  year  1782  may  be  justly  styled  in  Kentucky 
"The  Black  Letter  Year. "  Only  seven  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  permanent  settlement  of  the  Commonwealth, 
reckoning  permanent  settlement  from  the  time  when 
women  and  children  came  into  its  borders,  showing  that 
the   men  who   brouj/ht    them    had   determined   to   establish 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  13 

here  their  domestic  shrines.  It  was  hardly  two  years 
since  the  territory  had  been  divided  into  three  counties. 

Aheady  the  influx  of  white  men  into  these  hunting 
grounds  had  alarmed  the  braver  and  more  enterprising 
Indians  of  the  Northwest,  comprising  now  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Michigan,  and  Wisconsin.  The  Southern  Indians,  less 
warlike,  in  their  trading  with  Henderson  had  received  a 
golden  anodyne,  and  these  looked  with  but  little  concern 
on  the  peopling  of  Kentuck}'   with  the  pale-faced  race. 

Twenty-two  months  before  Ruddle's  and  Martin's  sta- 
tions had  surrendered  to  Colonel  Bird  and  his  Canadian 
and  Indian  army,  backed  by  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and 
Fayette  was  now  to  bear  the  brunt  of  other  Indian  inva- 
sions. Before  the  leaves  had  budded  on  the  trees  in 
1782  the  news  of  Estill's  defeat  had  sent  a  gloom  and 
despondency  through  the  souls  of  all  the  pioneers,  and 
scarcely  had  the  horrors  of  this  event  passed  from  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  settlers  when  Captain  Holder's 
misfortune,  in  his  defeat  at  the  Upper  Blue  Licks,  pre- 
f  pared  the  public  mind  for  another  chapter  of  woes,  and 
these  were  to  be  the  forerunners  of  the  most  horrible 
of  all  that  had  come  into  the  lives  of  the  struggling 
settlers. 

In  the  months  preceding  1782  a  new  enemy  had  come 
to  make  incursions  into  Kentucky,  and  the  name  of  these 


14  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

Indian  warriors   soon  became  a  by-word  and  terror  to  its 
inhabitants.  * 

The  Wyandot  Indians  were  oftenest  discovered  making 
assaults  on  the  Kentucky  cabins  and  forts,  and  by  their 
courage  and  cunning  and  skill  and  their  cruelt}'  they 
made  the  terrors  of  wilderness  life  more  disquieting  than 
ever  before. 

These  Wyandots  were  a  part  of  the  Indians  compos- 
ing the  Western  Confederacy:  they  had  been  knovs-n  as  a 
fragment  of  the  Six  Nations.  They  had  fought  the 
Mohawks  in  earlier  days,  and  a  centur}-  and  a  half  before 
the\-  had  lost  their  prestige  temporarily  in  a  great  battle 
fought  in  canoes  on  Lake  Erie,  near  Long  Point  and  had 
been  compelled  to  move  further  wesL  But  before  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  they  had  forged  their  way  back 
east^vardly  and  had  repossessed  themselves  of  their  old 
lands  on  the  Sandusky  River.  The  \-icissitudes  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  of  war  had  thinned  their  ranks, 
but    had    increased   and   perfected    their  valor.      They  had 

♦Haldimakd  Papers. — The  future  historian  of  this  period  must  draw 
much  of  his  material  from  the  Canadian  archives.  The  Haldimand  collection 
is  invaluable  to  him  who  deals  with  the  stor>-  of  the  conflicts  in  the  countn- 
west  of  the  Ohio. 

Sir  Frederick  Haldimand  was  a  British  Lieutenant  General.  He  was 
bom  in  Neufchatel,  Switzerland,  in  17 iS,  and  died  in  1791.  He  joined  the 
British  army  in  1754.  ^°  ^777  ^^  *'**  made  a  Lieutenant  General,  and 
in  1778  succeeded  Sir  Guy  Carleton  as  Governor  of  Canada.  He  held 
this  office  until   17S4.      He  was  a  severe  and  arbitrary  man.      His  nephew. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  15 

been  chosen  as  the  chief  natign  among  the  members  of 
the  Western  Confederacy,  as  the  tribe  worthy  to  have 
the  most  distinguished  of  all  honors,  the  possession  of  the 
great  calumet,  the  emblem  of  the  co-operation  and  the 
pledge  of  the  confederacy.  They  had  this  to  commend 
their  past  prowess  and  guarantee  their  future  gallantry, 
and  they  had  demonstrated  that  this  honor  was  worthily 
bestowed. 

It  was  the  men  of  this  tribe  who  most  loudly  called 
for  war  on  the  white  settlers  of  Kentucky-,  and  doubtless 
in  the  minds  of  their  ablest  leaders  the  dream  had  been 
nourished  that  if  the  white  men  could  be  driven  from 
Kentucky  that  land  would  become  the  possession  and  the 
home  of  the  warlike  Wyandots,  who  for  so  many  hundred 
moons  had  found  no  abiding  place,  and  whose  wanderings 
and  vicissitudes  should  at  last  find  a  solace  and  rest  in 
that  land  of  buffalo,  cane  thicket,  and  salt  springs,  which, 
in  obedience  to  the  call  of  the  Great  Spirit,  produced  all 
that  savage  life  and  savage  desire  could  suggest 

or  grand  nephew,  William,  bequeathed  General  Haldimand's  Papers  to  the 
British  Museum.  They  cover  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  volumes  of  man- 
uscript. The  papers  included  in  the  years  from  1778  to  1784  are  peculiarly 
valuable  to  the  Kentucky  reader.  These  papers  have  been  copied  for  the 
Canadian  archives,  and  their  contents  throw  much  light  on  the  transactions 
with  the  British  and  Indians.  It  was  General  Haldimand  who  permitted 
and  approved  the  use  of  the  Western  and  Southern  Indians  against  the 
settlers  in  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky,  and  first  gave  British 
official  sanction  to  their  savage  atrocities. 


1 6  The  Battle  of  t lie  Blue  Licks. 

Earnest  discussion,  calm  deliberation,  thoughtful  coun- 
sel consumed  a  large  share  of  that  eventful  Saturday  night, 
and  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  were  upon  these 
sturdy  warriors  before  they  found  opj^ortunity  to  seek 
repose  for  the  labors  and  trials  of  the  morning.  The  great 
and  all-absorbing  question  was,  should  these  men  now 
assembled  await  the  coming  of  Colonel  Logan  before  pur- 
suing the  enemy. 

All  understood  that  the  commandant  in  Lincoln  County 
had  heard  the  news  of  the  Indian  invasion,  that  messen- 
gers were  dispatched  to  every  station,  calling  upon  the 
militia  to  hasten  to  St.  Asaph's  and  prepare  to  march  to 
the  relief  of  their  friends  in  Fayette.  It  could  not  be 
more  than  a  day,  they  said,  until  he  would  come,  and 
with  these  reinforcements  they  would  be  able  to  cope  with 
any  enemy  who  might  invade  Kentucky. 

Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  no  very  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  number  of  men  engaged  in  this  incursion. 
There  were  supposed  to  be  anywhere  from  four  hundred 
and  fifty  to  six  hundred,  but  the  men  who  assembled  at 
Bryant's  Station  that  night  never  calculated  danger  and 
never  feared  Indians,  it  mattered  not  how  great  the  dis- 
parity in  numbers.* 

*The  Kentucky  historians  in  their  statements  of  participants  in  the  battle 
put  the  number  of  whites  and  Indians  at  from  four  hundred  to  six  hundred 
and  fifty.      Tliat  they  outnumbered  the  whites  even  the  British  commanders 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  17 

Some  historians  have  ascribed  base  motives  to  Colonels 
John  Todd  and  Stephen  Trigg  in  arriving  at  the  conclu- 
sion to  march  the  following  morning  in  pursuit  of  the 
fleeing  savages,  and  charged  the  fear  of  Logan's  ranking 
them  and  thus  securing  the  glory  of  a  victory  when  the 
battle  should  be  fought  as  the  reason  for  haste.  No  greater 
injustice  was  ever  done  to  the  memory  of  brave  men. 
Logan  did  not  outrank  Todd.  They  marched  because  they 
were  confident  they  were  able  to  cope  with  the  enemy, 
notwithstanding  his  superiority  in  numbers.  They  believed 
that  the  welfare  of  the  settlements  and  the  future  main- 
tenance of  the  white  men  in  Kentucky  depended  on  prompt 
and  effective  punishment  of  the  Indians  who  had  assaulted 
Bryant's  Station;  and  these  patriotic  and  statesmanlike 
views  brought  them  to  the  determination  that  the  best  and 
wisest  thing  to  do  was  to  make  a  vigorous  pursuit  at  once. 

in  their  reports  admitted.  Caldwell  says  he  crossed  the  Ohio  with  three  hun- 
dred Indians,  and  that  one  hundred  of  them  left  him  the  day  before  the 
battle.  He  says  nothing  of  the  white  troops  he  had  with  him.  These 
have  always  been  estimated  at  sixty.  Caldwell  exaggerates  the  number  of 
Kentucky  slain,  placing  it  at  one  hundred  and  forty-six,  and  his  own  loss 
seven  killed  and  ten  wounded.  If  he  thus  mistakes  the  killed  it  is  not 
unreasonable  to  believe  that  he  also  underestimates  the  number  of  his  troop. 
Weighing  all  the  conflicting  statements,  I  put  his  force  at  about  three  hun- 
dred—  nearly  double  the  number  of   Kentuckians  engaged. 

McKee  says  that  the  British  and  Indians  were  not  much  superior  to 
the  whites  in  number.  He  gives  the  white  force  at  two  lumdred.  He  also 
states  that  there  were  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  Kentucky  whites 
killed. 


1 8  The  Battle  of  flic  Blue  Licks. 

In  these  the  darkest  days  of  Kentucky  history,  here 
and  there  cropped  out  tlie  jealousies  and  ])ickerings  which 
are  sure  to  arise  in   all   human   relations.* 

The  promotion  of  General  George  Rogers  Clark  to  the 
position  of  Brigadier  -  General  in  the  Continental  Army, 
thus  making  him  the  ranking  officer  in  Kentucky,  and  his 
efforts  to  build  \\\>  Louisville  and  the  Jefferson  County 
forts  and  strengthen  the  Ohio  River  defenses,  and  the 
drafting  of  the  militia  of  Fayette  and  Lincoln  to  do 
a  part  of  the  work  on  the  Ohio,  had  caused  Logan, 
Boone,  Trigg,  and  others  to  feel  that  too  much  was 
being  done  for  Jefferson,  and  that  much  of  this  was  at 
the  expense  of  the  safety  of  the  forts  in  Fayette  and 
Lincoln,  f 

The  great  military  mind  which  foresaw  the  benefits  of 
breaking  British  power  in  the  West,  and  that  planned  the 
Vincennes  Campaign  and  the  capture  of  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Hamilton,  and  that  constantly  unjjed  the  capture  of 
Detroit,  looked  deeper  into  military  jiroblems  than  the 
militia  commanders  of  Lincoln  and  Fayette,  and  with  his 
masterful  genius  for  war  decided  that  the  safety  of  Lin- 
coln, Fayette,  and  all  Kentucky  lay  in  so  arranging  as  to 
prevent  the  passage  of  the  Ohio,  or  in  case  the  passage 
was  made,  by  a  system  of  scouting  to  discover  the  enemy's 

*  Sec   Appcudix   A.  |  See   Appendix   \\. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  19 

intentions  and  route  and  give  timely  warning  to  all  large 
stations  so  as  to  make  vigorous  and  safe  defenses.* 

In  carrying  out  this,  the  true  and  only  sure  means  of 
defense,  General  Clark  had  come  into  contact  with  the 
methods  and  views  of  the  Central  Kentucky  leaders,  and 
already  mutterings  of  dissent  and  dissatisfaction  had  begun 
to  cross  the  mountains  and  to  knock  at  official  doors  in 
Virginia,  and  when  the  stor}^  of  Blue  Licks  was  told,  it 
bore  along  with  its  harrowing  details  a  full  share  of  com- 
plaint and  criticism  of  General  Clark,  f 

The  militia  of  Jefferson  could  not  come  to  the  succor 
of  Lincoln  and  Fayette,  and  it  was  not  unnatural  that 
the  men  of  these  two  counties  when  drafted  and  forced  to 
go  to  the  Ohio  River's  defense,  as  had  been  done  for  two 
summers  past,  felt  that  they  were  bearing  unjust  burdens 
and  were  forced  to  do  double  work  for  the  common  defense. 

Daniel  Boone  wrote:  "I  trust  about  five  hundred 
men  sent  to  our  assistance  immediately,  and  them  to  be 
stationed  as  our  County  Lieutenant  shall  see  most  nec- 
essary, may  be  the  saving  of  this  our  part  of  the  country; 
but  if  you  put  them  under  the  direction  of  General  Clark 
they  will  be  little  or  no  service  to  our  settlement,  as  he  lies 
one  hundred  miles  west  of  us  and  the  Indians  northeast, 
and  our  men  are  often  called  to  the  falls  to  guard  th(Mn.";J: 

*  See  Appendix  C.  |  See  Appendix  D.  ];  See  Appendix  E. 


20  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

On  this  Saturday  night,  twenty  miles  away,  at  the  old 
site  of  Ruddle's  Station  in  l-^ourbon  County,  a  far  different 
scene  was  enacted.  Here  Caldwell  and  his  Canadian 
Rant^ers.  with  McKec  and  liis  Indians  ])y  Hinkston  Creek, 
had  gone  into  camp. 

The  failure  to  take  Bryant's  Station,  the  loss  of  the 
men,  and  the  distress  of  the  wounded  they  were  hearing 
to  their  own  country,  filled  all  hearts  with  a  sense  of 
humiliation.  They  camped  at  a  spot  full  of  great  memo- 
ries to  some  of  thi;  company.  Alexander  McKee  and 
Simon  Girty  had  been  present  two  years  ago  when  brave 
Isaac  Ruddle  had  been  forced  by  Bird's  artillery  to  sur- 
render, and  the  spot  could  but  awaken  a  recollection  of  that 
dreadful  day,  when  McKee's  and  Bird's  promises  to  give 
British  jirotection  were  so  ruthlessly  and  cruelly  broken, 
and  when  the  Indian  thirst  for  blood  had  shattered  Bird's 
pledges,  and  in  his  very  presence  the  helpless  women, 
children,  and  wounded  had  been  slain  before  the  eyes  of 
British  officers  —  men  who  wore  the  uniform  t)f  the  most 
enlightened  nation  of  the  world.  .\s  the  highest  expression 
of  studied  cruelty,  they  had  brought  with  them  Nicholas 
Hart  and  other  prisoners  taken  at  this  station,  and  as  they 
slept  amid  the  wreck  and  ruins  of  this  once  strong  fort 
and  loved  home,  or  lay  bound  by  the  side  of  Indians, 
guarded  by  a  watchful   sentinel  to  jirevent  even   the   ])ossi- 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  2 1 

bility  of  escape,  they  must  have  had  emotions  that  the 
human  soul  can  with  difficulty  even  attempt  to  fathom. 

A  wierd  scene  passed  before  their  vision,  as  at  night- 
fall the  savage  army  prepared  for  its  rest.  The  march  of 
a  score  of  miles  since  the  morning,  encumbered  with 
plunder  and  burdened  with  the  wounded,  had  fitted  all 
for  soundest  repose.  Meat  brought  from  the  slaughtered 
cattle  at  Bryant's  was  broiled,  corn  taken  from  its  wasted 
fields  was  cooked,  and  the  wearied  and  disappointed  sav- 
ages, after  stationing  double  lines  of  pickets,  laid  themselves 
down  to  rest. 

The  four  white  leaders  were  not  so  soon  to  sleep  —  a 
curious  quartette  that  now  gathered  to  discuss  the  future 
of  the  campaign,  and  to  map  out  the  plan  for  the  mor- 
row's march. 

The  commander  of  all  was  Major  William  Caldwell. 
Born  in  Ireland,  he  had  drifted  to  America  before  the 
Revolution  and  made  his  home  in  Pennsylvania.  He  had 
refused  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Colonies,  and  became 
a  refugee  loyalist. 

He  went  to  Detroit,  united  his  fortunes  with  England, 
and  enlisted  in  Butler's  Rangers,  an  organization  com- 
posed in  part  of  Canadians,  but  mostly  of  refugees  like 
himself.  He  had  fought  with  his  Rangers  against  Colonel 
Crawford,    and    received    a   severe  wound,    but,   recovering, 


2  2  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Lieks. 

he  had  organized  the  forces  jTjathered  for  the  attack  on 
Wheehni^,  in  August,  17S2,  and,  to  revive  the  disappointed 
hopes  of  the  great  Indian  army  of  eleven  hundred  l)raves, 
had  undertaken  this  raid  into  Kentucky  and  the  siege  of 
Bryant's  Station.  He  hated  the  American  people  because 
they  were  rebels,  and  he  used  his  savage  allies  as  a  ]:)art 
and  parcel  of  the  means  required  in  the  war  to  restore 
English  supremacy  over  the  American  Colonies. 

By  his  side  sat  Alexander  McKee,  whose  hatred  of 
the  men  of  Kentucky  was  intensified  by  his  treachery  and 
broken  parole  at  Pittsburgh,  and  quickened  l)y  the  recol- 
lection of  the  confiscation  of  two  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  1 7S0,  which  land  had  been  surveyed  for  him  on  the 
Elkhorn  in  1774. 

He  was  a  born  Pennsylvanian ;  liad  l)een  a  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  Westmoreland  County  in  that  State  in 
1771  and  1773;  he  had  kept  up  a  traitorous  correspond- 
ence with  the  British,  and  finally,  on  March  the  28th,  1778, 
escaped  with  Matthew  Elliott,  Simon  Girty,  and  others, 
to  the  Indian  tribes,  and  then  made  his  way  to  CTeneral 
Hamilton  at  Detroit,  where  he  had  been  rewarded  with  a 
captain's  commission,  and  had  been  assigned  t(j  the  work 
of  inciting  the  savage  tribes  t(j  make  war  on  the  Amer- 
ican settlements  in  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky. 
He  was  cruel,  l)ut  he  was  brave.      He  had  been  in  charge 


The  Battle  of  the  Blitc  Licks.  23 

of  the  Indians  at  the  capture  of  Ruddle's  and  Martin's 
stations.  His  soul  was  black  with  the  recollections  of 
his  broken  faith  to  those  who  trusted  him  in  their  hope- 
less helplessness  on  the  day  of  that  surrender.  Now  and 
then  a  gleam  of  mercy  broke  through  and  over  his  soul. 
Here  and  there  he  had  helped  a  captive  boy  or  girl, 
yet  he  had  urged  his  savages  to  repeated  raids  and  mas- 
sacres. He  had  been  at  Floyd's  disaster  in  September 
of  the  previous  year,  had  fought  with  his  red  allies  against 
Crawford  three  months  before  at  Sandusky,  and  now  had 
command  of  the  Indians  on  this  incursion  into  Kentucky. 

With  these  was  Matthew  Elliott,  possibly  a  little  less 
brutal  but  none  the  less  brave  or  enterprising  than  his 
two  companions  in  his  efforts  to  murder  the  white  men 
against  whom  his  British  masters  ordered  him  to  hurl  his 
savage  corps.  Ireland  mothered  him,  but  he  emigrated 
to  Pennsylvania  and  removed  to  Fort  Pitt  as  an  Indian- 
trader  before  1774.  He  was  captured  in  1776  by  some 
Wyandot  Indians  in  Ohio,  and  carried  a  prisoner  to  Detroit, 
but  he  had  been  released  and  returned  with  dispatches  to 
Alexander  McKee  in  1778.  He  escaped  from  Pittsburgh 
with  McKee  and  Girty,  and  from  that  hour  became  an 
implacable  foe  of  the  white  men. 

His  voice  with  the  Indians  (over  whom  his  influence 
extended)  was  only  second  to  that  of  McKee,  was  always 


24  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

for  slaughter  and  rapine.  He  devoted  his  hfe  to  }iur- 
suading  the  savages  to  make  war  on  his  race.  He  betrayed 
no  trust  in  his  escape  to  the  wilderness  when  he  took  up 
his  abode  among  his  ])rutal  allies.  Here  and  there  a 
merciful  act  cropped  out  of  his  long  line  of  destruction. 
He  never  hunted  the  rear  in  any  engagement.  He  led 
his  red  men  in  battle,  and  always  kept  well  up  to  the  front 
in  every  conflict,  and  it  was  only  at  the  Battle  of  the 
Fallen  Timber,  with  Wayne,  in  1 794,  twelve  years  later, 
that  he  ever  failed  to  lead  where  he  called  upon  his  Indian 
troops  to  go. 

Sullen  and  thoughtful,  but  not  apart,  sat  another  man 
whose  histor}'  has  run  a  full  course  in  human  infamy.  He 
was  then  just  forty-one  years  of  age,  about  five  feet  nine 
inches  in  height,  with  black  hair,  deep,  piercing  eyes,  short 
neck,  heavy  frame,  with  round,  full  face,  and  with  a  great, 
deep,  hideous  scar  across  his  forehead,  made  there  by 
Brant's  sword  a  year  before,  but  with  a  frame  muscular, 
strong,  and  agile,  a  deep  chest  which  betokened  great 
strength  and  endurance,  and  with  a  countenance  which 
said,  "I  know  not  fear  nor  shame."  A  curious  life  this 
man  had  led.  He  had  been  born  in  1741.  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  Susquehanna,  near  where  Harrisburg  now 
stands.  His  father  had  been  killed  by  Indians,  and  he 
himself  had  been   captured  by  the  Senecas  at  fifteen  years 


The  Battle  of  the  Blite  Licks.  25 

of  age,  and  at  this  early  period  of  life  he  had  witnessed 
the  torture  at  the  stake  of  his  step-father  by  his  captors, 
and  he  had  lived  among  them  until  he  was  twenty -one 
years  of  age.  He  had  been  a  scout  and  spy  for  Lord 
Dunmore.  He  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  American 
Army,  and  his  company  had  fought  the  British  in  1777, 
at  Charleston,  in  the  assault  on  P'ort  Sullivan.  He  had 
been  an  Indian  -  trader  and  interpreter  at  Fort  Pitt  for 
years,  and  had,  at  last,  under  the  influence  of  his  present 
vis-a-vis,  McKee,  deserted  the  American  cause  and  fled 
with  him  to  the  Indians  in  March,  1778.  He  had  led 
numerous  marauds  into  Kentucky,  Virginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  had  given  Kenton  (an  old  friend),  then  a 
captive  prepared  for  the  stake,  his  life  in  1778.  In  1779 
he  learned  that  a  price  was  on  his  head,  and  this  turned 
his  heart  to  hate.  He  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but 
he  was  shrewd,  strong,  and  brave.  He  had  seen  and 
acquiesced  in  the  cruel  massacre  of  Ruddle's  and  Martin's 
stations;  he  had  witnessed  the  tortures  of  Colonel  William 
Crawford,  and  had  refused  to  give  him  help  or  give  him 
death,  and  day  in  and  day  out  for  four  years  past  he 
had  guided  his  savage  confederates  to  the  white  man's 
abode,  and  with  profoundest  satisfaction  witnessed  the 
murder  of  women  and  children  and  the  torture  of  men  of 
his  own  color  with  a  complacency  which  nmst  have  pleased 


26  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Lieks. 

even  the  devils  in  hell.  He  h:i(I  probably  made  the  tra- 
diticmal  s]ieech  ]Hit  in  liis  mouth  by  white  men  at  Chilli- 
cothe,  urging  an  invasion  of  Kentucky.  He  had  insisted 
on  this  incursion  into  the  State,  had  attempted  to  persuade 
the  people  at  Bryant's  Station  to  trust  the  mercy  of  himself 
and  associates,  and  now  his  soul  was  filled  with  chagrin 
and  distress  at  the  unsuccessful  termination  of  the  maraud. 
This  man  was  Simon  Girty.  and  to  him  and  his  three 
superior  officers  came  now  the  discussion  of  the  succeed- 
ing wt)rk  of  the  army  of  savages  who  now  lay  about  the 
cleared  space  of  Ruddle's  Station  in  deepest  sleep.  Even 
his  cruel  soul  did  not  catch  a  whispering  from  Fate  of 
the  great  and  complete  revenge  which  would  fill  his  heart 
and  life  before  two  suns  again  should  set.  He  had  no 
command.  England  never  honored  him  with  a  military 
office.  He  was  the  counsellor  and  guide  of  the  Wyandot 
warriors  who  comprised  more  than  a  majorit}'  of  the 
Indians  now  in  the  detachment,  and  he  inspired  their 
savage  action  and  instigated  their  most  cruel  deeds,  and 
on  the  march  and  in  the  camp  his  soul  was  bus}'  with 
schemes  for  murder  and  revenge.* 

*Thc  hate  of  border  white  people  for  Simon  Girty  f,'«ive  him  a  promi- 
nence in  the  history  of  the  Indian  wars  which  was  nndeserved.  Brown, 
Ranck,  McClung,  Collins,  Marshall,  and  otiiers  have  made  him  a  greater 
reputation  than  he  was  entitled  to.  He  was  never  any  thing  but  an  inter- 
preter.      Two    yc.irs    before    this    battle    he    had    gone    to    live    among    the 


The  Battle  of  the  Bltie  Licks.  27 

When  the  sun  was  well  up  on  Sunday  morning  the 
Kentucky  soldiers  were  formed  in  line.  The}'  were  all 
mounted.  Accounts  differ  somewhat  as  to  the  numbers. 
Colonel  Robert  Patterson  said  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four;  Steele  says  one  hundred  and  eighty-two;  Boone, 
one  hundred  and  eighty-one,  and  Logan,  one  hundred  and 
eighty. 

A  motley  band  in  many  respects  was  that  little  army  of 
whites  as  on  that  August  Sabbath  morning  it  emerged  from 
Bryant's  Station,  in  linsey  or  buckskin  hunting  -  shirts, 
buckskin  moccasins,  buckskin  breeches,  and  coonskin  caps. 
The  mounts  all  differed  in  color  and  size;  most  generally 
their  horses  were  fourteen  and  a  half  or  fifteen  hands 
high,  pony  built,  and  each  man  carried  his  provisions  in 
his  haversack  or  saddle  pocket,  and  every  man  carried  his 
trusty  rifle,    his  knife,    tomahawk,    and    his   patchen   pouch 

Wyandots  by  order  of  the  British  officers,  but  he  held  no  commission,  like 
McKee  and  Elliott,  and  it  was  years  after  the  affair  at  Blue  Lick  before  he 
acquired  any  great   influence  with  the  Indians. 

McKee  and  Elliott  commanded  all  the  Indians  on  this  raid.  Simon 
Girty  and  his  brother  George  were  both  along  more  to  interpret  and  to 
encourage  the  Indians  than  to  command  them.  Simon  Girty  acquiesced 
in  torture  at  the  stake,  and  there  was  no  cruelty  his  word  and  example 
would  not  encourage,  but  he  was  ignorant  and  besotted,  and  never  had  either 
the  genius  for  or  the  opportunity  of  command,  and  the  speech  at  Old 
Chillicothe  against  the  Long  Knives  claimed  to  have  been  made  when  this 
incursion  set  out  is  in  large  measure  the  creation  of  the  brilliant  imagination 
of  early  writers  of  pioneer  history.  (See  Butterfield's  History  of  the  Girtys, 
Robert  Clarke  &  Company,   1893.      Pages  19J-4,   198,   200,  205,  and  208.) 


28  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

and  powder- horn,  willi  a  full  suj)))!)'  of  powder  and 
bullets,  with  hero  and  there  a  stray  gun  flint  wrapped  in 
a  rag  or  in  tow,  so  as  to  be  full)'  jirepared  for  any  emer- 
gency. 

The  scenes  of  desolation  around  the  fort  were  enough 
to  insjiire  the  keenest  desire  for  revenge.  Three  hundred 
dead  cattle,  one  hundred  and  fifty  hogs,  many  sheep,  flax, 
hemp,  jKjtatoes,  vegetables  of  all  kinds  ])ulled  uji,  a  large 
one-hundred-acre  corn-field  nearly  all  cut  down,  and  on 
every  side  the  touches  of  savage  desolation  warmed  their 
hearts  and  nerved  their  arms  for  the  coming  conflict.  Every 
man  jiressed  more  tightl)'  his  riile  and  his  knife,  ajid  each 
felt  the  impulse  of  (juick  and  noljle  hope  to  wipe  out  in 
the  red  man's  blood  the  wrongs  now  jMctured  to  the 
mind  of  every  S(jldier  joining  in  the  j)ursuit,  and  each 
vowed  with  siKtnt  oath  to  repay  in  kind  the  wanton  and 
useless  wreck  which  abounded  everywhere  in  the  helds 
and  cabins  about  the  station. 

A  few  men  who  were  not  mount(;d,  or  who  were  not 
able  to  make  tlie  journev.  or  wIkj  had  been  told  off  to 
pn^tect  the;  f(^rt,  slo(xJ  out  in  the  open  space  in  front  of 
th(;  fort,  and  these,  with  ihe  women  and  children,  with 
hearts  full  of  dread  and  uncertaint),  and  yet  with  cheer- 
ful exclamations  and  tendi;rest  affection,  waved  adieu  to 
these  warriors  who   were   now  going   forth,    as  they  hoj)ed. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  29 

to  punish    the   savages  who   had   wrought    this    destruction 
to  their  homes  and  their  property. 

It  was  not  difficult  to  find  the  road  on  which  the 
departing  enemy  had  marched.  They  had  taken  what  was 
known  as  the  middle  buffalo  trace,  leading  along  near 
where  Paris  and  Millersburg  now  stand  to  the  salt  springs 
at  Blue  Licks.  It  was  easy  to  follow  these  roads  which 
the  buffalo,  the  pioneer  engineers  of  the  great  West,  had 
laid  down  as  best  for  travel.  Once  having  ascertained  the 
route  which  the  Indians  pursued,  the  marching  was  rapid. 
Vedettes  and  the  advance  guard  kept  a  careful  lookout, 
while  the  main  body  pressed  on  behind,  and  toward  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  near  the  site  of  Millersburg,  on 
the  banks  of  Hinkston  Creek,  the  Kentucky  Army  came 
upon  the  place  where  the  previous  night  the  camp-fires  of 
the  Indians  had  been  built.  Here,  to  the  eyes  of  the 
experienced  Indian  fighter,  were  signs  that  boded  no 
good  to  the  pursuers.  In  many  places  on  the  line  of  the 
trace  the  trees  close  to  the  road  showed  the  marks  of  the 
Indian  tomahawk.  From  the  official  reports,  only  within 
the  past  few  years  made  known  to  the  public,  it  was 
apparent  that  Caldwell  and  McKee  anticipated  pursuit. 
They  knew  the  spirit  and  })olicy  of  these  Kentucky  set- 
tlers, and  they  rightly  judged  that  as  .soon  as  the  soldiers 
from  Lincoln  could  rush  to  the  help  of  the  men  of  Fayette 


30  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

an  army  would  march  on  their  trail,  and  in  battle,  and, 
if  need  be,  in  death,  avenge  the  depredations  of  the  past 
week.*  But  those  who  were  pursued  were  men  inured  to 
war's  worst  horrors.  Of  late  they  had  drunk  deeply  of 
white  man's  l^lood  and  j^lutted  their  souls  in  shameless 
revenge.  The  smoke  of  the  fires  which  burned  Crawford 
and  his  companions  had  hardly  lifted  its  hideous  pall  from 
the  earth,  and  the  ])lood  stains  from  the  successful  forays  in 
Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  were  not  yet  washed  from  their 
garments.  The\'  had  met  the  white  man  before  and  had 
vanquished  him,  and  they  were  not  afraid  to  face  him 
again,  even  in  equal  combat  if  the  occasion  required.  There 
were  white  men  and  red  men  with  them  who  had  assailed 
and  defeated  Estill  and  Holder,  and  the  recollection  of 
these  victories  made  them  careless  of  the  pending  conflict 
which   the   Kcntuckians  were  anxious  now  to  force. 

It  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  deceived  the 
men  who  were  following  the  trail  as  to  what  these  signs 
meant,  and  they  hafi  already  resolved  to  punish  the  foe; 
and  there  was  no  one  in  all  the  army  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty-two  men  who  suggested  for  one  single  moment  the 
idea  of  a  change  in  the  j^lans  wliich  had  been  jirepared 
for   forcing  a  battle  upon   the  invaders. 

There  was  something   to  the    Kentucky  pioneer  dearer 

*  See   Appendix   I". 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  31 

than   life,    and   that  was   his  own   consciousness  as  well  as 
his  reputation  for  unflinching  courage. 

This  sight  of  the  camping-ground  of  the  Indians  quick- 
ened the  marching,  and  a  little  while  after  sundown  the 
pioneers  rested  a  brief  while  and  decided  upon  a  plan  of 
battle  when  the  foe  should  be  overtaken,  which  all  now 
judged  could  not  be  many  hours  delayed.  The  enemy 
might  be  found  at  any  moment,  and  the  method  of  battle 
was  fully  explained  to  all.  Half  of  the  men  mounted 
were  to  ride  hard  upon  the  Indians,  and  the  other  half 
dismounted  would  follow  close  behind  and  attack  the  sav- 
ages at  short  range  when  their  formation  should  be  broken 
by  the  dash  of  the  horsemen.  All  understood  and  all 
were  ready  to  carry  out  the  orders.  After  a  brief  rest, 
the  command  was  again  given  to  mount,  and  near  mid- 
night they  went  into  camp  hard  by  the  site  of  the  little 
town  of  Ellisville  in  Nicholas  County.* 

All  the  indications  showed  that  on  the  morrow  they 
would  likely  fmd  those  for  whom  they  were  searching, 
and  none  doubted  that  when  the  conflict  came  they  would 
execute  prompt  vengeance  upon  those  who  had  killed  their 
comrades  and  wantonly  wasted  their  property  and  broken 
in  upon  the  quietude  of  their  homes. 

Since  leaving  Bryant's  Station  in  the  morning  they 
had    marched    thirty-three    miles,    which,    considering     the 

*See  Appendix  G. 


S2  Th^.  Battle  of  tfu  Blue  Ucks. 

ckaxskcua  (A  ikte   re  the  ntcessstj  ior  cantion.  as 

w^  -laxy  ride. 

.  '.Hy  i*<^i<«i  r^uMeri  m^  cu^  .Vv  ^jcAdn^  The  food  wJuch 
hit/i  been  prepay  '  .-  .-^g  women  at 

the  i^^rt  »erv'  .   i-'-r;^  U*<;«  even-r^u'  ::.fux^     The  horses 

they  tied  t/>  i;«e  .imbs  of  the  trees  or  small  saplings. 
ArfAind   ti'ievi    the    -  'rpt   while   pickets   well   out   in 

t>ie  wfxxlA  ^u^LTdtyfi  U.fs  i>; umbers  of  the  wearied  riflemen. 
Ere  the  ray»  (A  the  rising  sun  had  lifted  their  beauteous 
light  alx/ve  the  hf/riz/m  the  camp  was  aroused  and  the 
march  rfTnf:¥/(^L 

T>ie  enemy  in  front  of  them  i^iad  showed  no  haste  in 
thirir  j<Airney  t/^>  their  own  land.  Leaving  on  the  mom- 
inj/  of  tb';  ijih,  they  harl  f:amped  some  twenty  miles 
away.  During  the  <^l;iy  of  the  i8th  they  had  marched 
alx/ut  eight/i*;n  rriileH  more,  and  now,  on  the  morning  of 
the  {'jl)\,  they  were  only  three  miles  in  advance  of  their 
purKuerfi,  on  the  *;ast.  sirh;  of  tlie  Licking,  at  the  point 
where  the  MayHville  and  Le-xington  road  now  crosses 
that  !)tr«--'ini   ov'tr  a  Kuspension    l;ri<'lrje.  * 

'I'll'  M'l  rrirn  h;i'I  not  sliown  any  disposition  to  run 
aw;iy  l»'*ni  tlx:  lijdit  whirli  th»-  wliit*;  ni<-n  w(;n*  so  anxious 
to  hrinji;  ,il»oiil.  I  h«y  nnr l«  rstoofl  w«-ll  Un-  courage  and 
n()|/«  iiio;iit.y  ;r,  vvrll  ;r.  iIm-  |»roni|>Lilude  of  the  white  men 
In    pnni'.li    inv.r.ion,   ;iikI    yd   th«:y  flid    not   .ivoid   a   conflict. 

*  Si;«j   A|i|i<  ii'lix    1  i. 


1^«4B>^»J34 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  33 

The  contending  armies  had  slept  within  four  miles  of 
each  other  —  neither  aware  of  the  other's  presence  and 
neither  afraid  of  the  other. 

Forming  in  line  and  riding  in  the  narrow  trace,  which 
rarely  exceeded  seven  or  eight  feet  in  width,  two  or  three 
abreast,  the  pioneers  soon  struck  a  little  branch,  along 
which  the  trace  wound  its  way  to  the  bottom  of  the  Lick- 
ing River.  About  a  mile  from  the  ford  the  trace  left  the 
hillside  and  turned  northwestwardly  into  this  branch  and 
followed  it  down  to  the  mother  stream. 

At  this  point  some  consultation  was  held  among  the 
officers,  and  it  was  here  that  Boone,  whose  great  experi- 
ence and  whose  thorough  knowledge  of  the  country  gave 
his  opinion  much  weight,  suggested  that,  instead  of  fol- 
lowing this  trace  and  going  down  to  the  river,  they  should 
follow  the  ridge  and  strike  the  Licking  two  miles  above, 
cross  at  Abnee's  or  Bedinger's  mills,  and  thus  come  down 
to  the  banks  of  the  Licking  some  two  and  a  half  miles 
above  Blue  Licks,  and  cross  the  Licking  into  a  wide 
valley  from  which,  a  mile  eastwardly,  they  would  gain  the 
ridge  along  which  the  trace  pursued  its  way  into  Fleming 
and  Mason  counties. 

Boone,  with  all  his  woodscraft  and  his  knowledge  of 
Indian  ways  and  Indian  life,  and  with  his  splendid  record 
as  the  best  of  Indian   fighters  and  hunters,  backed  by  the 


34  The  Battle  of  the  Bine  Lieks. 

truest  courage,  had  never  possessed  the  (}uahty  of  impress- 
in*^  himself  upon  the  men  with  whom  he  rame  in  contact, 
or  assuming  or  commancHng  tlieir  leadership.  His  advice 
was  disregarded.* 

The  command  "Forward!"  rang  through  the  woods 
and  echoed  along  the  hillsides,  and  down  the  fateful  trace 
to  the  Blue  Licks  ford  the  cavalcade  pursued  its  march. 
At  the  point  where  tne  trace  strikes  the  Licking  the  val- 
ley is  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide.  It  is  two  liundred  feet 
on  the  western  side,  where  the  Kentucky  pioneers  emerged 
froni  the  forest,  and  some  eight  hundred  feet  wide  on  the 
east  side,  where  the  foe  for  hours  had  been  waiting  the 
advance  of  the  pursuers,  whose  presence  by  this  time  was 
thoroughly  known  to  them. 

Men  like  Caldwell,  McKee,  and  Elliott,  and  their  Indian 
associates,  were  not  ignorant  of  who  were  pursuing  them. 
Spies  had  been  sent  back  along  the  trace  to  reconnoitre, 
and  it  is  said  that  an  Indian  conjurer  had,  after  inquiring 
of  the  Great  Spirit,  told  his  red  brethren  that  in  a  few 
hours  the  pale  faces  would  be  at  the  river  and  engage 
them   in   battle. 

Across  the  Licking  the  trace  followed  up  tlie  hillside 
of  the  ridge,  which  was  rocky  and  barren  of  all  trees  and 
vegetation.      For    ages    the    bufTaloes    had    come    to  these 

*  See   Appendix   I. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  35 

licks  to  find  salt.  Instinct  had  taught  them  the  neces- 
sity of  periodical  visitations  to  these  saline  springs,  where 
nature  had  provided  this  essential  for  animal  life,  and  for 
hundreds  of  years,  along  these  narrow  paths,  cut  out  of  the 
woods  by  the  ceaseless  trampings  of  these  mighty  herds 
of  buffalo,  had  come  millions  of  these  animals  to  find 
health  and  life  in  the  waters  which  gushed  from  the 
Licking  bottom.  When  they  had  satisfied  nature's  call 
for  salt,  these  herds  would  climb  the  adjacent  hills  to  lie 
down  and  rest  through  the  day  and  sleep  through  the 
night.  On  those  eminences  thousands  of  them  would 
stand  and  watch  the  incoming  buffaloes  as  they  emerged 
from  the  trace  on  the  western  side,  and,  plunging  into  the 
waters  of  the  Licking,  swim  across  the  stream  and  slake 
nature's  demand  for  this  necessary  product,  which  here  the 
Great  Provider  for  all  animal  life  had  laid  up  in  unlim- 
ited quantity. 

As  the  advance  guard  of  the  pioneers  struck  the  river 
and  formed  in  line  in  the  narrow  bottom  on  the  west  side, 
they  caught  sight  of  a  few  Indians  hurrying  to  and  fro  on 
the  bare  and  rocky  hill  a  mile  beyond  the  stream.  Twenty- 
four  hours  of  marching  had  now  received  its  reward.  The 
foe  for  whom  they  had  sought,  and  for  whose  presence 
they  had  longed,  was  close  by.  But  the  willingness  of 
the   Indians  to  be  found,  their   tardiness  of  marching,  and 


36  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

their  efforts  to  conceal  their  real  number,  so  apparent 
to  the  true  woodsman,  had  caused  the  wisest  men  of 
this  command  tt)  hesitate  about  pressinj^'  tlie  conflict,  wlien 
behind  them,  only  a  single  day's  march,  were  four  liundred 
soldiers  as  brave  as  they,  and  which,  added  to  tlieir  number, 
would  have  made  them  a  match  for  an\'  Indian  foe  that 
ever  crossed  the  Ohio  River. 

The  Colonels  and  Majors  were  called  in  hasty  con- 
sultation. In  the  presence  of  the  enemy,  renewed  caution 
and  the  highest  wisdom  were  requisite.  As  these  experi- 
enced fighters  and  gallant  soldiers  gathered  around  the 
commanding  officer,  Colonel  Todd,  the  difficulties  of  the 
situation  were  quickly  discussed.  Boone,  always  cautions, 
advised  delay  and  suggested,  even  though  now  in  the 
presence  of  the  foe.  that  it  would  probably  be  wiser  to 
await  the  coming  of  reinforcements  before  forcing  a  battle. 
He  had  been  frequently  at  the  Blue  Licks  from  his  earliest 
coming  to  the  country.  He  had  made  salt  many  a  time 
near  to  the  very  spot  where  they  now  stood.  He  had  once 
been  captured  a  little  way  above  on  the  Licking.  With 
that  memory  of  his,  so  remarkable  as  to  be  able  by  day  or 
by  night  to  recognize  his  surroundings  in  the  woods  or  to 
locate  the  meanderings  of  streams  or  the  situation  of 
mountains  years  after  he  had  seen  them,  he  told  his  com- 
rades of   the  topography  of   the  land   just  over   the   hillside 


i0'kf<^;^:^M 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  zj 

from  whicli  they  had  seen  the  Indians  disappear.  Along 
the  neck  of  the  hill  the  eyes  of  the  pioneers  could  reach 
for  a  mile  in  unbroken  vision  ;  not  a  single  obstruction 
obscured  their  sight.  When  this  hill  was  ascended,  the 
Licking,  by  a  tremendous  swing  to  the  north,  came  close 
to  its  side,  and  from  its  top  down  to  the  river  bank  led 
a  ravine  filled  with  timber  and  covered  with  thickest  cane, 
while  five  hundred  feet  across  on  the  other  side  flowed 
out  a  little  stream  which,  passing  northwestwardly,  ran 
down  into  the  Licking,  one  and  a  half  miles  below  the  ford 
where  the  army  had  just  crossed.  This  ravine,  too,  was 
thickly  wooded. 

Boone  suggested  that  at  this  point  they  were  likely  to 
be  met  with  an  ambuscade,  and  prudence  at  least  sug- 
gested that  spies  should  be  sent  out  who  should  ride 
along  the  barren  hillside  and  over  to  the  head  of  the 
ravines  to  find,  if  possible,  the  location  of  the  enemy. 
Two  volunteers  quickly  came  forward,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  orders  of  their  superior  officers  they  spurred  their 
horses  into  the  river  and,  following  along  a  narrow  bar 
which  formed  in  the  stream,  quickly  passing  over,  ascended 
the  bend  on  the  opposite  side  and  then  up  the  hillside. 
For  a  mile  and  a  quarter  they  rode,  prospecting  carefully 
on  either  side,  and  returned  in  a  little  while  with  the 
tidings  that  they  had  seen  no  foe.  But  the  foe  had  seen 
them. 

385139 


38  The  Battle  of  tiie  Bhie  Licks. 

When  they  had  returned  and  made  their  report  a  new 
council  t)f  war  was  called,  and  still  it  was  suggested  as  to 
whether  it  was  not  part  of  wisdom  to  remain  encamped 
on  this  side  of  the  river  where  they  now  stood  until 
Logan  and  his  horsemen,  quick  and  eager,  on  the  march, 
should  come  to  their  help.  Tliey  knew  that  before  the 
sun   would  set   Logan   would  be  there.* 

In  the  discussion  on  Saturday  night  at  Bryant's  Station, 
as  to  whether  pursuit  was  advisable,  some  one  unfortun- 
ately had  insinuated  to  Major  McGary,  who  was  Major  of 
the  Lincoln  militia,  that  it  might  be  fear  rather  than  wis- 
dom which  suggested  the  delay  until  Logan's  coming. 
This  sting  had  gone  deeply  into  his  soul.  That  he  was 
a  brave  man,  those  who  knew  him  had  never  questioned. 
He  is  and  was  a  unique  character  in  pioneer  history. 
He  had  come  to  Kentucky  from  North  Carolina  in  1775, 
and  had  known  Boone  while  in  that  State.  He  had 
brought    his    wife    to    Kentucky,    and   she   was    one   of   the 

*  liradford  iu  his  Notes  details  the  colloquy  between  Colonel  Todd  nnd 
Colonel  Boone  in  the  following  words:  "Colonel  Todd  addressed  Colonel 
Boone  as  follows  :  •  Skilled  in  Indian  warfare  and  familiar  witli  the  ground 
in  the  vicinity  of  this  place,  we  require  yuur  opinion  on  the  expediency  of 
attacking  the  enemy  in  their  present  position.'  To  which  Colonel  Boone 
replied  :  '  I  am  of  the  opinion,  and  indeed  fully  persuaded,  that  the  enemy 
exceed  us  in  number  fully  three  hundred  ;  that  their  main  body  is  at  no  great 
distance  ;  and  that  they  are  lying  in  ambush.  Their  position  is  equal  to  an 
host  shfiuld  we  continue  our  march  up  the  river  and  be  drawn  in  between 
the  ravines  they  occupy.      I  therefore  advise  that  we  divide  our  gallant  baud, 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  39 

three  white  women  who  first  came  to  the  State.  He  had 
gone  with  Clark  as  a  captain  to  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes, 
and  in  1781  he  was  made  major  of  the  mihtia  in  Lin- 
coln County.  He  had  helped  to  build  the  block-house  in 
Louisville  ;  he  had  been  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Lincoln 
County,  and  onl}'  a  little  while  before  he  had,  b}'  this 
same  taunt  of  cowardice,  forced  some  of  his  comrades  to 
pursue  some  fleeing  Indians  in  an  attack  that  had  been 
successful,  when  without  loss  they  had  destroyed  a  large 
part  of  the  Indian  invaders. 

In  the  midst  of  these  conferences,  while  the  soldiers 
were  standing  in  a  circle  around  their  leaders,  McGary, 
always  impetuous,  and,  as  was  shown  by  his  subsequent 
declaration,  malignant,  his  spirit  burning  still  under  the 
suggestion  that  lack  of  courage  had  caused  his  advice  for 
delay  at  Bryant's  Station,  and,  desiring  to  vindicate  him- 
self in  the  eyes  of  his  comrades,  raised  his  rifle  above 
his  head  and  spurred  his  horse  into  the  river,  exclaiming, 

that  one  half  march  up  the  river  on  this  side  and  cross  over  at  Elk  Creek, 
fall  upon  the  upper  side  of  the  ravine,  whilst  the  other  half  take  a  posi- 
tion (to  co-operate  with  them)  in  another  quarter.  By  this  means  the  great 
advantage  of  their  position  will  be  changed  effectually  in  our  favor.  But, 
gentlemen,  whatever  be  your  ultimate  decision,  I  caution  you  against  cross- 
ing the  river  at  any  rate  before  spies  have   reconnoitered  the  ground. '  " 

This  conversation  is  couched  in  rather  too  lofty  style  for  Colonel  Boone. 
The  use  of  many  words  betrays  that  the  language  spoken  could  not  have  been 
known  to  Boone,  and  that  some  man  of  more  cultivation  and  education  than 
he  fraiiHHl  the  speech. 


40  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

"Delay  is  dastardly;  let  all  who  are  not  cowards  follow 
me,  and   I   will   sliow   them   where   the   Indians  are."* 

}^Vom  a  militar)-  standpoint  ihc  }>ropfr  thing  to  have 
done  with  McGary,  under  the  circumstances,  was  to  have 
shot  him  dt-ad  on  the  spot.  His  insubordination,  coupled 
with  his  rashness  and  his  attemjit  to  assume  command  of 
the  forces  where  he  was  of  inferior  rank,  as  riclily  deserved 
death  as  if  he  liad  witli  cowardice  run  away  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy.  Yet,  in  extenuation  of  Todd  and  his  asso- 
ciates, it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  men  who  composed 
this  command  were  socially  equals;  one  third  of  them  were 
officers  hastily  thrown  together  by  the  exigencies  of  the  hour 
and  the  dangers  surrounding  the  people  at  the  endangered 
station.  They  were  all  ready  and  willing  under  any  cir- 
cumstances to  fight;  they  were  also  full  of  self-confidence, 
full  of  spirit,  and  each  thoroughly  conscious,  not  only  of 
his  own  courage,  but  of  a  wide  experience  in  Indian  warfare. 

With  a  foolish  pride  aroused  by  the  dread  that  they 
would  be  thought  afraid  to  go  where  any  man  would  lead, 
a  considerable  number  of  the  pioneers  rushed  their  horses 
into  the  river  to  follow  the  reckless  and  disorderly  Major, 
who  was  now  leading  the  entire  force. 

In  less  than  a  hundred  seconds  the  remainder  had 
made    their    choice.      They    yielded    their    judgment    to    a 

*  Sec  Appendix  J. 


pq 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  41 

foolish  taunt,  and  they  plunged  into  the  river,  pressing 
after  those  who  had  gone  before  under  the  lead  of 
McGar}\  * 

The  horsemen  quickly  caught  the  inspiration  and  enthu- 
siasm which  come  to  those  who  enter  battle.  In  a  dis- 
organized mass,  each  striving  to  find  a  place  alongside 
the  impetuous  McGary,  they  rode  across  the  narrow  bot- 
tom for  a  few  hundred  feet,  and  then  striking  the  buffalo 
trace,  which  led  up  the  hill  a  little  north  of  the  ford, 
followed  it  in  a  northeastwardly  direction.  Recklessly,  cour- 
ageously, and  yet  tumultuously  hurrying  forward,  they 
soon  reached  the  top  of  the  ridge,  and  then  descending 
for  a  quarter  of  a  mile  they  came  in  sight  of  the  two 
heavily  timbered  ravines  which,  starting  a  few  feet  apart 
on  the  very  top  of  the  ridge,  run  down  north  and  south 
to  empty  their  waters  in  the  Licking  four  miles  apart. 

When  they  had  reached  the  slight  depression  in  the 
ridge,  through  which  in  later  years  the  Sardis  turnpike 
has  been  built,  they  received  a  few  shots  from  the  enemy 
posted  in  the  timber  and  underbrush  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  away. 

Through  the  exertions  of  the  officers  some  sort  of 
order  had  been  formed  out  of  the  military  chaos  which 
existed  in   the   little   army  which   had    forded    the    Licking 

*  See  Appeudix   K. 


42  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

but  fifteen  minutes  before.  Boone  was  thrown  to  the  left 
and  given  command.  The  i)ackbone  of  the  rid<;e  along 
which  the  fight  was  to  occur  was  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  width.  Trigg  was  ordered  to  the  right,  and 
his  route  was  close  to  the  edge  of  the  ravine  which  comes 
up  from  the  bank  of  the  Licking  and  reaches  the  top  of 
tho  hill  close  to  the  point  where  the  Sardis  turnpike  leaves 
the  Lexington  and  Maysville  road.  Todd  commanded  the 
center.  An  advance  guard  of  twenty-  five  men  was  ordered 
forward.  These  were  all  Lincoln  County  men,  and  they 
were  under  the  command  of  Major  Silas  Harlan,  Major 
Hugh  McGary,  and  Captain  William  McBride. 

Preferring  to  fight  on  foot,  a  majority  of  those  who 
were  not  officers  now  dismounted.  It  was  at  once  apparent 
that  the  enemy  in  full  force  was  at  hand,  and  that  a  con- 
flict was  immediate  and  inevitable. 

The  various  positions  had  not  been  taken  by  all  the 
troops  before  the  fire  from  the  Indian  rifles  quickened, 
and  in  less  than  half  a  minute  a  tremendous  volley  was 
poured  into  the  advance  guard,  all  but  three  of  whom 
fell  at   this   first  round. 

Colonel  John  Todd,  mounted  upon  his  white  horse,  hur- 
ried the  center  to  the  support  of  the  advance  guard.  They 
had  not  reached  the  sjiot  where  Harlan  and  his  comrades 
had  fallen   before   they  were   made  a   target   for  two    hun- 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  43 

dred  rifles.  Out  in  the  open,  with  no  protection,  the 
mortahty  was  tremendous,  and  the  crash  of  this  volley 
had  not  died,  nor  the  smoke  lifted  from  the  surface,  when 
from  the  ravines  on  the  left  and  on  the  right  rushed  the 
savage  foe. 

Protected  by  the  trees  and  the  underbrush,  those  who 
had  fired  had  taken  deliberate  aim,  and  almost  every  shot 
told.  Within  less  than  three  minutes  about  forty  pioneers 
lay  weltering  in  their  blood. 

Outgeneraled,  and  led  by  a  wily  foe  into  a  trap  of 
death,  they  were  not  the  men  to  run  away  under  any  fire, 
and  they  quickly  opened  upon  the  advancing  and  the  con- 
cealed foes. 

The  right  wing  was  pushed  back  by  a  tremendous 
onslaught.  The  Indian  line  had  been  extended  so  as  to 
outflank  Trigg  and  his  men,  and  they  yielded  to  the  pres- 
sure and  recoiled  on  the  left  where  Boone  had  made  an 
impression  on  the  Indian  right  and  had  driven  in  their 
advance  line.  But  when  the  right,  by  the  overlapping  of 
the  Indian  left,  was  pushed  toward  Boone's  rear,  then  the 
left  wing  became  unsteady.  At  this  moment  it  received 
a  galling  fire  from  the  enemy,  large  numbers  of  whom 
were  soon  running  back  toward  .the  rear  of  the  whites 
and  closing  in  upon  them  like  a  wall  of  fire.  Todd,  Trigg, 
Harlan,    Bulger,    McBride,  and   Gordon    were    dead.      One 


44  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

fourth   of  the  Kentuckians   had   fallen  never  to  rise  again, 
and  more  than  a  dozen  were  already  wounded. 

It  was  not  often  that  the  men  who  composed  this 
command  liad  turned  their  backs  to  the  foe,  but  it  was 
obvious  to  the  most  casual  observer  that  no  courage  could 
avail  against  the  men  who  liad  made  this  mad  assault, 
and  the  merest  military  tyro  could  understand  that  the 
only  chance  for  safety  lay  in  flight.  To  remain  was  mad- 
ness;  to  flee  gave  some  slight  hope   of  escape. 

The  pioneer  soldiers  had  not  been  trained  to  fight  as 
organized  bodies.  Each  man  had  hitherto  fought  on  his 
own  hook,  selecting  his  own  tree,  and  using,  in  large 
measure,  his  own  judgment  about  when  it  was  best  to 
stand  together  or  flee,  and  no  sooner  was  it  thoroughly 
apprehended  that  the  Indians  were  rushing  to  the  rear 
and  from  both  ravines  were  encircling  the  whites,  than 
each  man  by  common  consent  began  to  look  out  for 
himself,  and  at  once  the  retreat  began  and  immediately 
became  a  rout.  A  few  had  not  dismounted;  they  rode 
hard  for  the  ford;  only  a  portion  were  able  to  mount  the 
horses  toward  which  they  were  now  running,  a  few  hundred 
feet  in  the  rear,  while  nearly  half  of  those  who  were  fleeing 
were  pursued  so  closely  that  they  had  no  time  even  to 
attempt  to  mount,  but  on  foot  they  made  their  way  as  rap- 
idly as  possible  to  the  ford.      Tlieir  guns  had  been  emptied 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  45 

at  the  first  fire;  the  whole  action  had  not  lasted  much  over 
five  minutes;  there  had  been  no  time  to  reload,  nor  did  the 
enemy  intend  to  give  them  opportunity  for  any  such  pur- 
pose, but  rushed  out  with  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife, 
and  forced  a  hand-to-hand  encounter. 

A  new  type  of  Indian  had  now  come  to  face  the 
pioneers,  and  he  had  inaugurated  a  different  and  more 
savage  style  of  war.  This  was  shown  at  Estill's  defeat, 
at  Holder's  fight,  and  at  Blue  Licks.  It  required  men  of 
the  noblest  courage  to  throw  away  a  rifle  and  rely  on  a 
tomahawk  and  scalping-knife,  but  these  red  men  who 
were  now  fighting  the  Kentucky  settlers  were  men  of 
magnificent  physique,  and  behind  this  had  as  nervy  hearts 
as  ever  entered  a  human  frame.  They  reckoned  death 
of  little  consequence,  and  they  had  trained  themselves  to 
abandon  trees  after  the  first  fire  and  to  rush  out  to  meet 
the  foe  face  to  face  and  end  the  conflict  by  personal  en- 
counter with  tomahawks.  They  deemed  this  the  quickest 
and  the  surest  way  to  end  a  struggle.  It  was  a  new  sort 
of  experience  to  the  pioneer;  he  had  not  then  quite 
adapted  himself  or  accustomed  himself  to  it.  The  wan- 
dering Wyandot,  who  had  been  roaming  westwardly  and 
now  eastwardly  for  so  many  years,  had  schooled  himself 
to  this  kind  of  battle,  and  he  had  learned  that  it  was 
less    dangerous     than    to    stand    behind    trees    and    watch 


46  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

for  an  opportunity  to  shoot  a  foe  who  was  hidden  Hke 
himself.* 

The  white  man,  quick  to  learn,  soon  prepared  himself 
to  meet  this  new  phase  of  war.  The  use  of  the  toma- 
hawk he  could  not  acquire  so  as  to  be  on  equal  terms 
with  the  Indian,  hut  the  pale-face  brought  the  bayonet 
to  his  help  and  f^ave  its  cold  steel  as  a  match  for  the 
hatchet,  and  in  the  future  wars  the  wrongs  of  Estill  and 
Blue  Licks  were  amply  atoned  for  with  the  blade  now 
fitted  over  the  muzzle  of  the  rifle. 

The  unprotected  ridge  along  which  the  Kentuckians 
advanced  at  the  battle-ground  was  four  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  wide.  Colonel  Todd  and  his  associate  commanders 
had  no  reserve  line.  The  twenty-five  men  in  the  advance 
guard  led  by  Harlan,  McGary,  and  McBride  were  scarcely 
two  hundred  feet  in  front  of  the  center.  Taking  these 
from  the  white  force,  every  man  of  which  was  engaged, 
it  left  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  the  line  of 

*Col()iu;l  Arthur  Campbell,  in  writing  to  Colonel  William  Davies,  Octo- 
ber 3,  17S2  (see  Voliiine  3,  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  page  337), 
says:  "The  method  of  arming  and  arraying  our  militia  ought  to  be  varied. 
The  bayonet  and  scynieter  uinst  ho  introduced  to  enable  us  now  to  face 
the    Indians." 

Colonel  W'ilhain  Christian,  in  writing  to  Governor  Harrison  from  Mont- 
gomery County,  Virginia,  on  September  28,  1782  (see  Volume  3,  Calendar 
of  Virginia  State  Papers,  page  331),  says:  "  Even  musket  men  with  bayonets 
would  be  of  more  use  than  is  generally  thought,  as  the  Indians  of  late 
depend  more  upon  the  use  of   tlieir  tomahawks   and  spears  tlian  their  fire." 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  47 

battle.  The  left  wing  had  thrown  out  a  couple  of  spies 
as  a  skirmish  line,  but  they  quickly  fell  back  to  Boone's 
line  of  battle.  This  thin  line,  composed  of  horsemen  and 
footmen  combined,  was  one  third  already  dead  or  wounded. 

It  had  been  forced  in  on  either  side  and  stood  on  the 
ridge  helpless,  as  the  Indians  on  the  north  and  south  fired 
into  the  fleeing  mass  now  deprived  of  its  leaders  and 
fully  realizing  that  impetuous  courage  had  brought  them 
to  almost  inevitable  disaster. 

No  discipline  could  be  maintained.  A  compact  body 
only  drew  a  more  galling  fire,  and  organized  resistance 
meant  a  more  certain  destruction  and  increased  mortality. 
A  minute's  delay  would  insure  the  closing  of  the  circle 
from  which  escape  would  be  impossible,  and  which,  once 
effected,  would  put  all  the  whites  within  an  impassable 
wall  composed  of  brave  savage  Indians  who  would  shoot 
or  tomahawk  the  entire  number  as  quickly  as  blade  and 
bullet  could  dispatch  them. 

To  succor  the  wounded  only  meant  surer  death.  To 
remain  together  was  to  invite  a  more  deliberate  and  cer- 
tain fire;  to  hesitate  meant  instantaneous  destruction. 
No  order  was  necessary.  No  command  was  required. 
Officers  and  men  quickly  and  clearly  perceived  that  sep- 
arate flight,  each  for  himself,  and  the  crossing  of  the  river, 
to  plunge  into  the  trackless  forests  on   the  opposite  shore 


48  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

of  the  Licking,  was  the  only  course  which  ofTered  the 
shghtest  possibihty  of  safety.  War  has  horrors  no  courage 
or  gallantry  can  avoid.  To  leave  the  dead  and  wounded 
kindred  on  the  held,  to  Hee  away  from  comrades  in  a 
race  for  life  was  full  of  terror  for  brave  men.  Hut  battle 
frequently  knows  no  sentiment,  and  often  hushes  and 
destroys  every  emotion,  and  so  brother  and  friend  on  the 
ridge  parted,  each  guided  by  the  highest  of  all  instincts, 
self-]ireservation,  to  do  that  which  was  best,  each  for 
himself.  In  an  instant  all  by  common  consent  began 
immediate  and  swiftest  flight. 

They  had  passed  over  the  river  a  few  minutes  before 
one  hundred  and  eighty  two  strong,  full  of  courage  and 
battle's  enthusiasm.  They  returned  now,  leaving  a  large 
portion  of  the  men  and  all  their  leaders  but  one  dead, 
and  the  whole  force  a  band  of  fugitives  only  bent  on  seek- 
ing escape.  They  had  suffered  a  fearful  and  tremendous 
mortality.  Forty-one  per  cent  were  killed,  wounded,  and 
captured;  of  the  captured  four  were  subsequently  tortured 
to  death,  and  this  made  Kentucky's  offering  on  this  fatal 
day  seventy-one  of  her  noblest,  bravest,  and  most  heroic 
sons. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  dreadfulness  of  the  conflict 
on  the  return  to  the  river.  The  horsemen  rode  in  fierce 
madness,     communicating     their     terror     to     their     steeds  ; 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  At9 

while  the  despairing  footmen,  wearied  by  their  long  run 
under  the  burning  rays  of  the  August  sun,  with  over- 
powering fear  rushed  down  the  hill  in  their  wild  race  for 
life,  while  the  enemy,  with  delirious  thirst  for  blood  already 
quickened  by  the  fearful  slaughter,  struck  down  the  flee- 
ing white  men  with  their  tomahawks  and  plunged  their 
knives  into  their  backs,  and,  sometimes  tripping  them  to 
a  fall,  drove  the  blades  into  their  palpitating  hearts. 
The  terror  was  only  that  which  was  born  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  the  situation,  and  the  fright  only  the  fear 
which  came  from  pursuing  the  only  line  of  escape.* 

When  the  Kentuckians  began  the  retreat  it  was  the 
first  impulse  to  reach  and  mount  their  horses  ;  pursuit, 
however,  became  so  warm  that  many  abandoned  this  best 
chance  for  flight,  for  the  Indians  ran  in  among  them  as 
they  endeavored  to  spring  into  the  saddle,  and  a  number 
were  killed  as   they  attempted  to  rise  on  their  steeds. 

The  deserted  horses  were  taken  by  the  Indians,  and 
on  these  they  rode  among  the  fleeing  white  men,  cutting 
them  down  with  their  tomahawks,  or  waited  to  slay  them 
as  they  iran  down  the  hillside.  Others  of  the  Indians  rode 
directly  to  the  river  above  and  below  the  ford,  and  then 
watched  for  the  coming  of  the  doomed  fugitives,  while 
still  others  yet,  driving  harder,  crossed  the  stream  and  fol- 

*  See  Appendix  L. 


50  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

lowed  the  fleeing  pioneers  through  tlic  forest  or  hunted 
them  from   their  hiding  places  in  tlie  thickets. 

Boone,  deserted  by  his  soldiers,  rnn  forward  to  lind 
his  son  mortally  wounded.  He  had  only  time  to  lift  him 
upon  his  back,  rush  witli  him  into  the  forest  skirting  the 
ravine  along  which  he  had  fought,  and  tlien,  bearing  him 
a  little  way  from  the  scene  of  the  conflict,  swam  with 
him  across  the  river  and  hid  him  in  a  cave  on  the  west 
bank,  hoping  that  by  this  act  of  paternal  devotion  to  save 
his  child  from  impending  death.  But  affection  could  not 
stay  the  crimson  tide  or  stop  the  flow  of  his  life  blood, 
and  beholding  the  death-damp  on  his  brow,  accompanied 
with  the  pallor  which  presages  approaching  dissolution, 
his  instinct  of  safety  forced  him  to  leave  him  to  die  alone. 
He  had  done  all  that  love  could  do  to  save  his  son,  and 
without  companionship,  his  soul  bowed  down  with  deepest 
sorrow,  he  fled  into  the  forest. 

Into  the  river,  speeding  across  the  narrow  bottom, 
dashed  horsemen  and  footmen  side  by  side,  while  down 
to  the  very  banks  the  Indians,  now  rendered  more  daring 
by  the  unopposed  pursuit,  followed  the  white  men  to  the 
brink  of  the  water,  tomahawking  them  and  scalping  them 
in  the  ])resence  of  their  comrades,  or  shooting  them  down 
as   tliey  waded  or  swam   the  stream. 

In    this    moment    of    despair    and    terror    and    woe    two 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  5 1 

real  heroes  appeared  on  the  scene.  Such  men  always 
come  at  the  call  of  great  occasions.  Providence,  having 
hitherto  hidden  its  power,  responds  to  the  demands  of 
the  hour,  and  men,  before  obscure  and  unrecognized,  in 
a  moment  and  without  warning  rise  to  the  supremest 
heights  and  then  and  there  by  a  single  act  of  courage  or 
heroism  win  imperishable  fame  and  undying  renown. 

Three  days  before,  when  Simon  Girty  had  made  his 
speech  to  the  beleaguered  people  of  Bryant's  Station, 
demanding  a  surrender,  Aaron  Reynolds  climbed  upon  the 
ramparts  to  answer  his  proposition. 

Reynolds  had  not  been  selected  as  the  orator  to  answer 
Girty,  but  having  an  abundance  of  self-confidence,  and 
desiring  to  exploit  himself  in  the  presence  of  his  neigh- 
bors and  friends,  in  response  to  Girty 's  inquiry  if  the 
garrison  knew  him,  said  that  he  (Girty)  was  very  well 
known;  that  he  himself  had  a  worthless  dog  which  he  had 
given  the  name  of  Simon  Girty  in  consequence  of  his 
striking  resemblance  to  the  man  of  that  name.  That  if 
Girty  or  the  naked  rascals  who  were  with  him  found  their 
way  into  the  fort  they  would  disdain  to  use  their  guns 
against  them,  but  would  drive  them  out  with  switches,  a 
great  number  of  which  had  been  prepared  for  that  pur- 
pose; and  that  if  Girty  and  his  band  remained  any  longer 
their  scalps  would  be  found  drying  upon  the  roofs  of  the 
cabins. 


52  TJie  Battle  of  the  Blue  IJeks. 

Reynolds  had  been  a  member  of  Colom;!  Robert  Pat- 
terson's Company,  who  had  been  drawn  for  service  in 
conjunction  with  General  Clark  on  the  Ohio  River  some 
sixty  days  before.  His  profanity  had  disi^usted  Patterson, 
who  promised  Reynolds  if  he  would  quit  cursing,  on 
reaching  the  Ohio  River  he  would  give  him  a  quart  of 
spirits.  At  the  end  of  four  days  Reynolds  demanded 
the  promised  reward  and  received  it,  and  from  that  day 
on   was  never  heard  to  swear. 

In  the  retreat  Colonel  Robert  Patterson,  who  with 
Boone  had  commanded  the  left,  was  making  his  way  to 
the  river.  W'ith  a  few  men  around  him  he  was  falling 
back  slowly,  and  attempting  to  hold  the  enemy  in  check 
so  that  the  fugitives  might  gain  time  to  cross  the  river. 
He  struck  the  stream  a  hundred  yards  below  the  ford  — 
savages  behind  them,  the  river  in   front. 

Colonel  Patterson  had  been  severely  wounded  in  a 
march  to  Pittsburgh  to  secure  powder  in  1776.  He  had 
been  fired  upon  by  the  Indians,  one  of  his  arms  broken, 
and  a  tomahawk  driven  into  his  back.  He  had  never 
entirely  recovered  from  these  wounds,  and  the  long  run 
from  the  battle-field  to  the  river,  together  with  his  size, 
had  so  told  upon  him  as  to  render  a  continuation  of  his 
flight  inq-)()ssible.  At  that  moment  Aaron  Reynolds  rode 
up   t<j    Patterson's   side,   dismounted   from    his   horse,  lifted 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  53 

Patterson  into  the  saddle,  and  then  threw  himself  into  the 
river  and  swam  across,  a  little  later  to  be  captured  by 
Indians  who  had  crossed  below  and  were  searching  for 
the  whites.  A  few  moments  afterward,  left  alone  with 
one  Indian,  he  knocked  his  guard  down,  ran  off  into  the 
forest,  continued  his  journey  to  Bryant's  Station,  and 
reached  there  before  Patterson  was  able  to  make  the  trip 
on  horseback.  He  told  the  story  of  what  he  had  done 
for  Patterson,  which  was  discredited  and  was  not  received 
until  Patterson  himself  appeared  in  the  fort  and  verified 
his  statement.  He  was  presented  with  two  hundred 
acres  of  ground  by  his  grateful  friend,  joined  the  Baptist 
Church,  and  became  a  most  exemplary  and  useful  citizen. 
The  other  man  of  the  hour  was  Benjamin  Netherland, 
and  without  question  he  was  the  true  hero  of  Blue  Licks. 
Robert  Wickliffe,  whose  second  wife  was  the  only  daughter 
of  Colonel  John  Todd,  in  a  political  speech  at  Nicholasville 
in  1848  said  that  the  majority  of  the  men  who  escaped 
from  this  destructive  conflict  owed  their  preservation  to 
Benjamin  Netherland,  and  that  he  was  a  fearless  man, 
fruitful  in  resources,  and  the  impersonation  of  nobleness 
and  courage.  Robert  Patterson,  writing  to  Netherland  in 
1826,  says,  "I  can  not  ever  forget  the  part  you  acted  in 
the  Battle  of  Blue  Licks."  In  Marshall's  liistor)-  it  is  said 
of    him    that    he    presented    a    singular    j:)henomenon,    and 


54  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

that  by  his  conduct  many  were  saved;  and  Butler  re- 
echoes Marshall's  statement,  and  accords  Netherland  the 
honor  of  having  saved  many  of  the  fugitives.  McClung, 
in  Ills  Western  Sketches,  says,  "A  man  by  the  name  of 
Netherland.  wht)  had  formerly  been  suspected  of  coward- 
ice, here  displayed  a  coolness  and  presence  of  mind  equally 
noble  and  unexpected. " 

Major  Benjamin  Netherland  was  born  in  Powhattan 
County,  Virginia,  in  1755.  His  ancestors  were  from  Hol- 
land, and  came  to  Virginia  as  part  of  that  great  Protest- 
ant host  which  settled  along  the  James  River  in  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  father  was  a  tobacco 
planter,  and  he  sent  his  son  Benjamin  to  Cuba  and  Mar- 
tinique to  dispose  of  his  crop.  While  there  he  heard  of 
the  conduct  of  the  British  foe  in  the  attack  which  Sir 
Peter  Parker  was  making  on  Charleston.  He  left  his 
cargo  and  ran  the  blockade  into  Charleston  and  helped  to 
defend  Fort  Moultrie  against  the  British  assault.  In  his 
trips  to  the  West  Indies  he  had  become  fluent  of  speech 
in  both  French  and  Spanish.  He  accompanied  Lafayette 
on  his  journey  from  Charleston,  in  1777,  as  far  as  Meck- 
lenberg  County,  North  Carolina,  when  that  officer  was  on 
his  way  to  Philadelphia  to  tender  his  services  to  Wash- 
ington in  defense  of  American  liberty.  He  stopped  at 
Charlotte.    North   Carolina,    until    1781,    when   he   took   part 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  55 

in  the  Battle  of  Guilford  Court-house,  and  after  this 
drifted  into  Kentucky.  In  May,  1782,  he  was  at  Estill's 
Station,  and  was  with  Estill  in  the  defeat  at  the  hands 
of  the  Wyandots.  He  fought  in  nearly  all  the  Indian 
battles  from  1781  to  1784.  He  was  with  Clark  on  his 
expedition  in  November,  1782.  He  was  also  with  General 
Harmar  in  his  defeat,  and  with  General  Wayne  in  his 
victory,  and  assisted  in  the  punishment  of  the  very  men 
who  had  perpetrated  the  slaughter  at  Blue  Licks.  After 
seven  years'  absence  in  Kentucky  he  returned  to  North 
Carolina  and  married  his  boyish  sweetheart,  Theodosia 
Bramlette,  who  was  the  daughter  of  a  distinguished  Rev- 
olutionary fighter.  Colonel  Bramlette. 

Netherland  came  to  Jessamine  County  in  1788  with 
his  bride,  and  settled  on  a  farm  five  miles  east  of  Nicho- 
lasville;  in  1791  he  moved  to  where  Nicholasville  now 
stands,  and  built  a  hotel  and  called  it  Mingo  Tavern. 
This  house  was  kept  by  him  for  forty  years;  it  was  torn 
down  in  1864.  I  have  often  seen  it  when  a  boy,  and  I 
have  now  a  drawing  of  it  in  my  possession.  Netherland 
was  made  the  first  postmaster  of  Nicholasville  in  1801. 
He  was  the  first  Chairman  of  its  Board  of  Trustees,  and 
his  children  were  the  first  white  people  born  within  its 
limits.  He  died  in  1838,  and  was  accorded  a  splendid 
military  funeral.      He   was   buried   in   his    lot    in    Nicholas- 


56  TJie  BiMe  of  tJic  Biitc  Licks. 

villi',  which  is  now  in  tlu-  rear  of  the  Northern  Methodist 
Church,  and  a  simple  head-stone  with  his  name  tells 
where  the  brave  pioneer  finds  his  last  rest.  His  funeral 
was  preached  hy  Hishoj^  Kavanau*^h,  who  was  then  Pre- 
siding Elder  of  that  district.  General  Leslie  Combs,  Gen- 
eral John  McCalla,  Major  1).  ]>.  Price,  and  Robert 
WicklifTe  were   the   jiall -bearers.* 

At  the  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks  Netherland  was  only 
twenty-seven  years  old.  He  was  a  member  of  Robert 
Patterson's  Company  from  Lexington,  and  being  finely 
mounted  he  gained  the  ford  in  safety  and  crossed  the 
stream  unhurt.  As  he  reached  the  west  bank  he  looked 
back  over  his  shoulder,  and  his  soul  was  stirred  with 
deepest  emotion  and  his  heart  filled  with  the  grandest 
courage  as  he  saw  his  comrades  struggling  and  swimming 
and  plunging  into  the  river  or  rushing  down  the  bank 
pursued  by  their  savage  enemies  with  unsheathed  knives 
and  uplifted  tomahawks.  He  dismounted  from  his  horse, 
and,  throwing  the  reins  over  his  arm.  with  loud,  sharp, 
and  commanding  voice  ordered   the  fleeing  horsemen  who 

*  Major  Netherland's  experience  in  the  liattle  of  the  Bhie  Licks  justified 
liini  in  his  subsequent  love  of  horses.  He  bred  a  great  many  fine  race  horses 
in  his  day,  and  in  a  letter  written  by  him  to  General  John  McCalla,  in  1830, 
now  in  my  possession,  he  begs  him  to  come  to  Nicholasville  on  the  following 
Sunday  to  dine  with  him,  and  promises  to  show  him  "the  damndest  best 
three  colts  in  the  world."  I  am  indebted  to  S.  M.  Duncan,  Esq.,  of  Nicholas- 
ville, Kentucky,  one  of  the  State's  most  active  and  laborious  historians,  for 
tlie  larger  jiait  nf  the  facts  concerning  Major  Netherland. 


The  Battle  of  the  Bine  Licks.  57 

were  thus  deserting  their  comrades  to  halt,  fire  upon  the 
Indians,  and  save  those  who  were  still  in  the  stream. 
His  bravery  and  his  splendid  presence,  for  he  was  six 
feet  two  inches  high,  restored  the  spirit  of  these  fear- 
stricken  riders.  A  dozen  or  twenty  men  instanth-  obeyed 
his  call,  and  facing  about  with  Netherland,  and  standing 
in  line,  they  opened  a  fatal  and  deadly  fire  upon  the  fore- 
most of  the  pursuing  savages. 

The  counter  attack  was  so  sudden  and  unexpected 
that  it  checked  the  fierce  pursuit  of  the  Indians,  and  they 
instantly  fell  back  from  the  opposite  bank.  Netherland 
and  his  men  maintained  their  position  and  drove  the 
Indians  to  cover,  while  the  wearied  and  almost  helpless 
footmen  were  enabled  to  ford  or  swim  the  river  in  safety. 
Only  a  few  minutes  were  necessary  for  those  who  were  in 
the  stream  to  reach  the  shore. 

The  footmen  quickly  left  the  buffalo  trace  and  disap- 
peared into  the  thickets,  each  striving  for  himself  by 
hidden  and  circuitous  routes  to  reach  some  station. 

So  soon  as  these  distressed,  wearied,  or  wounded  foot- 
men were  enabled  to  secrete  themselves  in  the  dense  forest, 
large  numbers  of  the  Indians  were  seen  crossing  both 
above  and  below,  but  Netherland  and  his  comrades,  mount- 
ing their  horses,  galloped  along  the  trace  and  in  safety 
reached  Bryant's  Station   that  evening. 


58  The  Battle  of  the  Bine  Licks. 

The  j)ursuit  of  the  Indians  was  feeble  after  crossing 
the  stream.  Very  few  persons  were  thereafter  killed.  Scat- 
tered through  the  woods  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the 
savages  could  find  them,  and  after  a  search  through  a 
couple  of  miles  they  abandoned  the  search  and  returned 
to  the  battle-field.  Here  the  horrors  were  to  open  anew. 
Those  who  were  wounded  were  quickly  tomahawked  and 
scalped;  their  dead  bodies  were  mutilated  in  every  possi- 
ble way  that  savage  cruelty  could  suggest;  that  of  the 
manl}-  and  courageous  Trigg  was  quartered.  From  their 
still  warm  but  lifeless  forms  every  vestige  of  clothing  was 
removed,  and  the  bodies  left  where  the  tomahawk  or 
scalping-knife  or  the  bullet  had  brought  the  end.  Some 
of  the  wounded  were  tied  hand  and  foot,  and  subjected 
to  a  slow  death.  Four  were  taken  away  to  the  Indian 
towns  to  bear  the  vengeance  of  their  savage  foes  in  the 
presence  of  their  scjuaws  and  children,  or  were  tortured 
on  the  battle-field.  Three  were  spared,  who  returned  a 
year  afterward  and  told  the  story  of  their  suffering  and 
terror.  * 

( )n  the  journey  to  Kentucky  Caldwell,  McKee,  Elliott, 
and  (iirty  had,  as  said  before,  Ijrought  a  ])orti()n  of  the 
men    who    had    been    captured    at    Kuddle's    and    Martin's 

*Tlie  throe  jjiisoiiers  who  returned  after  captivity  were  Ensign  John 
McMurty  (reported  killed  by  Major  Todd  and  others)  and  Privates  Lewis 
Rose  and  Jesse  Vocuin. 


The  Battle  of  tJie  Blue  Licks.  59 

stations  in  June  1780,  and  the  mind  stops  still  with 
terror  when  it  realizes  what  they  must  have  suffered  as 
they  witnessed  the  battle,  and  then,  subsequently,  the 
murder  and  mutilation  of  those  they  had  loved  and 
respected,  and  who  had  fought  with  them  in  the  great 
struggle  to  win   Kentucky  for  the  white  man. 

Nearly  the  whole  day  the  Indians  roamed  over  the 
battle-ground  gathering  up  the  guns,  equipments,  and 
effects  of  the  dead  white  men.  Here  and  there  one  was 
j:)iled  close  to  another,  and  their  arms  entwined,  and  then 
in  a  new  outburst  of  savage  brutality  new  cuts  and  stabs 
were  inflicted  upon  the  corpses.  After  gloating  over  these 
scenes  of  death,  outrage,  and  barbarity  until  in  the  after- 
noon, Caldwell  marched  his  forces  a  few  miles  toward 
Maysville  and  camped,  and  on  the  day  following  (the  20th) 
crossed  the  Ohio  River. 

Colonel  Trigg  had  sent  an  express  to  Colonel  Logan 
on  the  17th  day  of  August,  telling  him  of  the  report  of 
the  attack  on  Bryant's,  and  informing  Logan  that  he  and 
such  troops  as  he  could  call  together  had  gone  to  the 
relief  of  Fayette  stations. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  Logan,  with  the  remain- 
der of  the  Lincoln  men,  reached  Bryant's  Station,  and 
toward  the  middle  of  the  day  started  to  follow  along  the 
track  which    Todd,  Boone,  Trigg,  and    their   company   had 


6o  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

gone  twenty  hours  before.  The)'  were  pusliing  along 
the  trace  a  few  miles  fn^ii  Bryant's  Station  near  one 
o'clock  in  tlie  afternoon,  when  the  achance  guard  heard 
the  sounds  of  swiftly-going  steeds,  and  before  orders  to 
halt  could  be  given  twenty-five  Lincoln  and  Fayette  men 
rode  in  among  them.  Their  steeds,  driven  to  highest 
speed,  were  jaded  and  fagged,  the  men  themselves,  some 
with  bleeding  limbs,  and  all  with  torn  garments  and 
blackened  features,  told  in  rapid  speech  the  horrors  of 
the  morning's  battle,  and  of  the  dread  havoc  at  the  Blue 
Licks.  In  frenzied  excitement  brother  asked  for  brother, 
neighbor  for  neighbor,  friend  for  friend.* 

The  full  command  coming  up,  four  hundred  and 
seventy  comrades  formed  around  the  wearied  and  excited 
fugitives,  as  in  short  and  broken  sentences  the  terrible 
repulse  at  the  Licking  was  detailed  to  the  rescuers.  With 
blanched  cheeks,  quickened  pulses,  and  sickened  hearts 
they  listened  to  the  story  of  the  awful  tragedy,  and  in 
subdued  and  breathless  suspense  took  in  the  pathetic  and 
harrowing  history  of  the  day's  dreadful  sorrow. 

And  now.  during  the  halt,  came  anotlicr  and  another 
and  still  another  of  the  escaping  soldiers.  With  anxious 
longings  and  strained  vision  each  of  the  new-comers  peered 
along  the  narrow  trace,  or  with  acutest  tension  turned  their 

*  Sec  Appendix  M. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  6i 

heads  to  catch  the  sound  may  be  of  others  who  had 
escaped  from  the  calamity. 

A  strong  advance  guard  was  thrown  forward,  and  the 
main  force  was  halted  in  the  woods  on  either  side  of  the 
trace,  waiting  to  see  if  yet  more  of  the  fated  company 
would  reach  friends  and  safety.  All  prepared  for  battle. 
None  knew  but  that  the  blood-thirsty  and  numerous  foe 
were  close  behind  the  whites  who  had  just  come  in,  and 
none  knew  how  quickly  they  might  be  required  to  meet 
the   same  victorious   enemy. 

Straggler  after  straggler,  riding  or  running  hard  for 
life,  pressed  within  the  friendly  lines,  and  each  arrival 
had  something  worse  to  tell  of  the  sweeping  destruction 
of  the  conflict. 

Now  came  one  who  had  seen  the  brave  and  brilliant 
Todd  go  down  in  death.  Another  was  close  by  the  superb 
Trigg  as  he  fell  under  the  fatal  fire;  and  yet  another 
had  witnessed  the  heroic  and  courageous  Harlan  sink  in 
the  very  fore-front  of  the  advance,  and  yet  another  had 
witnessed  McBride  and  John  Bulger  perish  in  the  leaden 
storm,  while  others  had  borne  Edward  Bulger  away  with 
a  mortal  wound  pouring  out  his  life's  blood;  and  yet  others 
had  looked  on  Kincaid,  Gordon,  Overton,  and  Lindsay  as 
they  too  were  stricken  to  earth  by  the  murderous  shots. 
Till  near  night  Logan  remained  encamped,  receiving  each 


62  The  Battle  of  tJie  Blue  Licks. 

escaped  comrade  with  joy  as  he  rushed  under  the  pro- 
tection of  his  regiment,  ;ind  then  he  turned  and  retraced 
his  steps  to   Bryant's   Station. 

A  few  of  the  survivors  had  gone  on  with  all  [possible 
haste  to  tell  the  sad  story  at  the  station.  Of  the  gallant 
band  who  had  so  grandly  defended  it,  at  least  one  fourth 
were  with  Todd  and  Boone  in  the  Fayette  battalion.  It 
was  already  known  now  that  Lieutenant  Barnett  Rogers, 
Ezekiel  Field,  and  James  Ledgerwood  were  dead,  and 
that  Jesse  Yocum  was  missing ;  Jeremiah  Craig,  whose 
wife  and  daughters  were  among  the  women  who  went  to 
the  spring  for  water  on  the  i6th,  had  gone  with  Todd, 
and  he  had  not  returned. 

The  rapidly-riding  express  emerged  from  the  trace  and 
entered  the  clearing.  His  appearance  told  the  story  of 
disaster,  and  with  beating  hearts,  crushed  hopes,  and  tear- 
dimmed  eyes,  the  direful  story  was  told  again,  and  each 
with  earnest  questioning  sought  to  learn  who  was  safe. 

A  change  had  come  into  the  fort.  The  exultation  of 
the  17th  was  changed  on  the  19th  into  deepest  grief  and 
humiliation.  No  words  can  paint  and  few  hearts  can 
measure  the  terror  of  the  scene,  and  all  in  silent  despair 
awaited   for  the   tidings   from   the   held  of  battle. 

As  the  shadows  oi  the  night  come,  darkness  only  cre- 
ates   new    fears    and    arouses    new    apprehensions.      From 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  63 

out  in  the  stillness  and  gloom  of  the  forest  here  and 
there  comes  hallooing,  and  a  footman,  exhausted,  clothes 
torn  to  tatters,  with  limbs  all  cut  and  pricked,  and  with 
broken  spirit  and  feeble  strength  calls  for  aid  and  recog- 
nition. Wives,  mothers,  children,  soldiers,  all  mingle  in 
common  grief,  and  sit  in  hushed  and  earnest  expectation, 
and  with  hearts  lifted  to  God  in  prayer  for  mercy 
watched  through  the  long  and  everlengthening  hours  of 
the  night. 

This  was  the  sequel  to  the  glorious  and  splendid 
defense  of  the  fort  a  few  hours  before.  There  were 
mothers  and  wives  who,  on  the  i6th,  walked  fearlessly  to 
the  spring  to  dip  water  for  the  besieged  garrison,  who 
now  in  abject  hopelessness  bewailed  the  absence  of  sons 
and  husbands,  whose  mangled  forms  they  pictured  lying 
on  the  battle-field  or  writhing  under  the  tortures  of  a 
savage  foe. 

When  daylight  came  nearly  one  hundred  had  arrived. 
With  speedy  foot  they  had  run  through  the  cane  and 
timber,  guided  by  the  stars,  toward  a  place  of  refuge,  or 
on  horseback,  by  the  traces  or  circuitous  paths,  had  found 
the  friendly  fort  once  more. 

To  the  experienced  woodsman  at  dawn  it  was  appar- 
ent that  few  more  would  come,  and  increasing  hours 
stifled  further  hope.      It   was   now   certain   that  those   who 


64  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Lieks. 

had  not  come  had  been  victims  in  the  conflict  or  in  the 
chase.  Messengers  were  sent  to  neighboring  stations. 
Boone  had  found  safet\'  in  his  own  fort;  Captain  Elhs 
was  with  him.  Some  liad  gone  to  Lexington,  but  still 
nearly  eighty  were  missing,  and  there  were  none  brave 
enough  to  of^'er  to  go  where  the  ruin  had  fallen.  At 
Harrodsburg,  Trigg's,  and  other  stations,  even  deeper  deso- 
lation was  felt.  The  worst  had  come  to  Lincoln;  Trigg, 
Harlan,  the  Bulgers,  McBride,  Gordon,  were  a  terrible 
offering  for  that  county  to  pay  for  the  common  defense. 
The  cries  of  the  widows  and  orphans  and  the  sobs  of 
mothers  went  up  from  every  station  in  Fayette  and  half 
of  those  in  Lincoln,  and  gloom,  distrust,  and  disquietude 
brooded  over  the  whole  territory. 

During  the  20th,  21st,  22d,  23d,  and  part  of  the  24.th 
Logan  and  his  command  remained  at  Bryant's. 

The  spirit  of  the  bravest  men  seemed  cowed.  The 
blow  the  savages  had  given  was  so  tremendous  and  so 
stunning  that  none  seemed  to  recover  from  its  force. 
Andrew  Steele*  in  his  quaint  words  told  the  story  thus; 
"To  express  the  feelings  of  the  inhabitants  of  both  the 
Counties  at  this  KuefuT  scene  of  unjiaralleled  Barbarities 
barre  all  words  and  cuts   Description  short." 

With   the  list  of  honored  and   brave  dead  and   the  roll 

*  Sec  Appendix  N. 


The  Battle  of  the  Bhie  Licks.  65 

of  those  hitherto  invincible  recoihng  before  the  Indians, 
it  seemed  unwise  again  to  face  such  an  enemy,  and  the 
stoutest  hearts  hesitated  before  again  grappUng  with  such 
foes. 

The  friends  of  the  dead  both  in  Lincoln  and  Fayette 
were  now  clamoring  for  news  from  the  battle-field,  and  on 
the  24th  Colonel  Logan,  with  five  hundred  men,  began 
the  march  for  the  Licking.  On  the  morning  of  the  25  th 
they  commenced  the  descent  into  the  valley.  Long 
before  they  caught  sight  of  the  hills  on  the  eastern 
bank,  where  here  and  there  vision  broke  through  the 
dense  shade  of  the  trace,  they  saw  high  in  the  air  great 
troops  of  winged  scavengers  swarming  and  sailing  over 
the  battle-ground,  and  these  told  in  unmistakable  signs 
of  the  shocking  sights  soon  to  greet  their  eyes. 

In  the  river,  in  the  valley,  on  the  hillside,  on  the 
ridge,  it  was  the  same  terrible,  harrowing  sight  of  savage 
desecration.  Brothers,  relations,  and  friends  began  the 
eager  search  of  mutilated  forms,  but  only  in  a  few 
instances  could  identity  be  established.  A  common  grave 
on  the  field  where  they  had  died  was  decreed  them,  and 
within  a  few  feet  of  where  Todd,  Trigg,  Harlan,  and 
McBride  had  fallen,  on  the  side  of  the  ridge  where  the 
left  wing  had  felt  the  shock  of  the  fierce  storm  and  the 
quick  assault   with   the   blade,  the  thin   earth   was   scraped 


66  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

awav.  A  stone  wall,  forty  feet  in  len<;th  and  four  feet 
hi'^li,  was  built,  and  in  behind  this  the  bodies  of  the  gal- 
lant slain  were  sepulchered;  over  them  were  thrown  rocks, 
loiis,  and  brush,  and  the  stor\'  of  the  Blue  Licks  was 
closed.  * 

Logan  marched  back  to  ] -Bryant's  Station,  reaching 
there  the  2(3th,  and  on  the  day  before  Caldwell  and 
McKee  had  reached  Wakatamiki,  now  Zanesfield,  L(;gan 
County,  Ohio,  one  hundred  and  forty-two  miles  distant, 
and  from  there  reported  to  their  British  masters  of  their 
bloody  work. 

In  short  season  after  the  battle  the  buffaloes,  driven 
farther  west  by  the  presence  of  the  white  men,  ceased 
their  coming  to  the  springs  to  which  they  had  so  long 
journeyed.  Nature,  sympathizing  with  the  sadness  and 
glory  which  centered  around  this  treeless  eminence, 
exerted  its  forces  to  hide  the  nakedness  and  ruin  and 
clothe  the  sterile  area  with  beautiful  evergreens.  It  bade 
the  cedar  with  its  never-dying  leaves  and  unchanging 
verdure  to  spring  from  the  rocky  soil  and  stand  as  a 
monument  to  the  noble  heroes  who  rest  in  death  beneath 
its  {protecting  shades  in  unknown  and  unmarked  graves. 
Over  the  once  barren  hillside  this  beautiful  tree  has 
grown    in    such    luxuriant    abundance    as    to    cover    every 

*  See  Appendix  O. 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks.  67 

rock  and  crag  with  its  perennial  freshness,  and  those 
who  approach  it  now  look  only  upon  a  mountain  of 
never-fading  green ;  fit  emblem  of  the  memory  of  the 
brave,  chivalrous,  and  gallant  men  who  here  died  for 
Kentucky. 


Appendix.  69 

APPENDIX  A. 

Officers  of  Fayette  County,  Kentucky,  to  Governor 
Harrison,  of  Virginia. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  301.) 

Lexington,  Fayettk  co.  Septein  iith,  1782. 
Sir:  The  Officers,  Civil  as  well  as  Military,  of  this  County, 
beg  the  attention  of  your  Excellency  &  the  H'ble  Council.  The 
number  of  the  Enemy  that  lately  penetrated  into  our  County, 
their  Behavior;  adding  to  this  our  late  unhappy  defeat  at  the  Blue 
Licks,  fill  us  with  the  greatest  concern  &  anxiety.  The  Loss  of 
our  worthy  officers  &  Souldiers  who  fell  there  the  19th  of  August, 
we  sensibly  feel  and  deem  our  situation  truly  Alarming.  We  can 
scarcely  behold  a  spot  of  Earth,  but  what  reminds  us  of  the  fall  of 
some  fellow  adventurer  massacred  by  Savage  hands.  Our  number 
of  militia  decreases.  Our  widows  &  orphans  are  numerous,  our 
officers  and  worthiest  men  fall  a  sacrifice.  In  short  sir,  our  settle- 
ment, hitherto  formed  at  the  Expense  of  Treasure  &  much  Blood 
seems  to  decline,  &  if  something  is  not  speedily  done,  we  doubt 
will  wholly  be  depopulated.  The  Executive  we  believe  think  often 
of  us  &  wish  to  protect  us,  but  Sir,  we  believe  any  military  oper- 
ations that  for  18  months  have  been  carried  on  in  consequence 
of  Orders  from  the  Executive,  have  rather  been  detrimental  than 
Beneficial.  Our  Militia  are  called  on  to  do  duty  in  a  manner 
that  has  a  tendency  to  protect  Jefferson  County,  or  rather  Louis- 
ville, a  Town  without  Inhabitants,  a  Fort  situated  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  the  Enemy  coming  with  a  design  to  lay  waste  our  Country, 
would  scarcely  come  within  one  Hundred  miles  of  it,  &  our  own 
Frontiers  open  &  unguarded.  Our  Inhabitants  are  discouraged, 
tis  now  near  two  years  since  the  division  of  the  County  &  no 
Surveyor  h;us  ever  appeared  among  us,  l)ut  has  by  appointment 
from    time    to    time    deceived    us.        our    principal    expectations    of 


JO  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

stren^h  are  from  him.  during  his  absence  from  the  County 
Chiimants  of  Land  disappear,  when  if  otherwise,  they  would  be  an 
additional  strength. 

W'c  t-ntrcat  tht;  I*2.\ccutive  to  examine  into  the  Cause,  and 
remove  it  speedily.  If  it  is  tlujught  impracticable  to  carry  the 
war  into  the  Enemy's  Country,  we  beg  the  plan  of  building  a 
Garrison  at  the  mouth  of  Lime-stone  &  another  at  the  mouth  of 
Licking,  formerly  prescribed  by  your  Excellency,  might  be  again 
adopted  and  performed.  A  Garrison  at  the  mouth  of  Limestone, 
would  be  a  Landing  place  for  adventurers  from  the  Back  parts  of 
Pensyl'va  cS:  Virg'a,  adjacent  to  a  large  Body  of  good  Land  which 
would  be  speedily  settled — would  be  in  the  Enemy's  principal  cross- 
ing place,  not  more  than  fifty  miles  from  Lexington  our  Largest 
settlement,  &  might  readily  be  furnished  with  provition  from  above, 
till  they  would  be  supplied  from  our  Settlements  here.  Major 
Netherland,  we  expect  will  deliver  this,  he  will  attend  to  give 
any  particular  information  that  may  be  deemed  necessary. 

Humanity  towards  Inhabitants  destitute  of  Hopes  of  any  other 
aid,  will  surely  induce  your  Excellency  to  spare  from  the  interior 
parts  of  the  State  200  men,  and  a  few  pieces  of  Artillery  for 
those  purposes  above  mentioned. 

We  are  Sir,  yr.  Excellency's  mo't  ob't  & 
vy:  H'ble  Ser'nts 

Daniel  Boone. 

Levi  Todd. 

R.  J.  Patterson. 

B.  Netherland. 

Eli  Cleveland. 

Wm.  Henderson. 

Wm.  McConnall. 

John  Craig. 

Wm.  McConnell. 


Appendix.  7 1 


APPENDIX  B. 
G.  R.  Clark  to  Governor  Harrison. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  345.) 

Cove   Spring,  Lincoln   County,  October    18,   1782. 

Sir  :  Yours  by  Maj.  Walls  came  safe  to  hand  the  30th 
July.  Nothing  could  be  more  timely  than  the  cloathing,  for 
desertion  was  so  common,  that  I  believe  in  a  month  more  there 
would  not  have  been  a  soldier  left.  The  works  at  the  Falls  was 
forwarded  by  every  means  in  our  power,  until  they  were  supposed 
sufficiently  strong  to  withstand  any  attack  from  their  Enem}-  but 
not  yet  compleat. 

Those  preparations  that  were  made  and  the  measure  taken  to 
let  the  Enemy  know  that  we  were  fully  acquainted  with  their 
design  (which  in  fact  we  were)  I  believe  has  saved  the  Western 
Country,  by  their  losing  all  hopes  of  Reducing  the  falls,  divided 
their  force,  sent  some  to  Weeling,  and  the  main  body  to  make  a 
diversion  on  Fayette  County.  And  had  it  not  have  been  for  that 
Imprudent  affair  at  the  blue  licks,  the  country  would  have  sus- 
tained very  little  damage.  I  learn  Col:  Logan  has  sent  you  a 
full  acct.  of  the  whole  transaction.  The  Conduct  of  those 
unfortunate  Gents  was  Extremely  reprehensible.  The  Enemy  con- 
tinue to  sculk  in  small  parties  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
but  do  little  damage  at  present.  The  movements  of  the  Enemy 
last  Spring  and  Summer  put  it  entirely  out  of  our  Power  to  Estab- 
lish the  posts  at  the  mouth  of  Kentucky,  licking,  &c. ,  they  may 
be  begun  this  fall. 

*********** 

A  late  stroke  of  your  Excellency  hath  added  greatly  to  the 
strength  of  this  Country,  That  of  ordering  the  delinquents  of  the 
Counties   to   do   duty   with    the    Regular   troops  in  this  Quarter;    it 


/  -^ 


The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 


will  have  most  salutary  Effects  altho'  few  Examples  ma)-  be 
made.  .  .  .  The  works  at  the  falls  was  at  the  Expense  of  a 
considerable  quantity  of  flour,  as  were  Obliged  to  make  a  fund  of 
it.  The  Gallee  I  had  built  answered  the  desig^n  Exceedingly,  and 
hath  been  of  Infinite  service.  Our  Circumstances  would  not  admit 
of  her  being  as  Compleat  as  I  could  have  wished,  but  I  hope  to 
have  her  so  this  fall.  I  have  di.scovered  that  open  small  boats 
will  by  no  means  answer  the  purpose  of  Cruising  on  the  River  as 
they  are  often  liable  to  be  ambuscaded  when  they  came  near  the 
shore,  or  in  narrow  parts  of  the  River.  But  those  on  the  Con- 
struction of  the  Gallee,  where  gunnils  are  four  feet  bullet  proof 
with  false  Gunnils  that  play  on  strong  hinges,  Raise  her  sides  so 
high  that  she  can  Lay  within  pistol  shot  of  the  shore  without  the 
least  danger. 

I    have   the   honor  to  be    D'r   Sir,   your    Excellency's   Devoted 
and  very  humble  Serv't,  &c.  &c. 


APPENDIX  C. 

Colonel  S.  Clark  to  Governor  Harrison. 

(VirKiuia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  385.) 

Lincoln,  Ky.,  November  30,   1782. 

'*  Colo.  Todd's  militia  was  excused  from  all  other  duty  but  that  of 
keeping  out  proper  scouts  and  spies  on  the  Ohio  and  Elsewhare  to 
discover  the  approach  of  the  Enemy,  to  give  time  and  to  Imbody 
a  sufficient  force  to  Repell  them,  as  it  could  not  be  previously 
done,  not  certainly  knowing  in  what  quarter  they  would  make 
their  stroke.  instead  of  those  necessary  duties  being  done  in 
which  their  saivaticm  apparently  depended,  the  Enimy  was  suf- 
fered  to    penetrate  deliberately   int<j    the    bowels   of   their   Country 


Appendix.  73 

and  make  the  attack  before  they  ware  discovered,  this  I  believe 
is  what  is  wished  to  be  bhnded,  and  the  neglect  to  be  one  of  the 
principal  springs  to  that  mad  pursuit  and  carnage  of  the  Blue 
Licks,  as  the  Reverse  of  fortune  would  have  obliviated  the  former 
neglect.  I  must  confess  that  I  have  been  defitient  in  my  duty  in 
not  given  you  an  ac't  of  every  circumstance  attending  this 
unhappy  affair,  but  hope  to  be  excused  as  it  was  onl}-  owing  to 
my  Delicacy  in  affecting  the  memory  of  the  gentlemen  who  Fell, 
not  conceiving  it  to  be  of  singular  advantage  to  government,  and 
knowing  it  would  fix  an  Eternal  Stigmy  on  others  Characters,  but 
as  the  Scale  has  turned  to  the  amazement  of  many,  I  shall  imme- 
diately collect  every  circumstance  relative  to  the  whole  affair  for 
you  perutial."  .  .  .  He  begs  the  governor  not  to  listen  to  further 
complaints,  and  feels  persuaded  that  if  he  knew  ' '  the  true  char- 
acter of  many  of  these  Gentlemen"  that  he  would  never  refer  to 
them  again.  Gives  as  apology  for  this  remark,  the  zeal  he  has 
for  the  public  interest,  and  the  estimate  he  has  of  his  goodness. 
Referring  again  to  the  memorial  from  Fayette  County,  he  adds, 
it  was  "to  cover  their  misconduct,  and  a  prelude  to  a  Maj'rs 
Commission  for  a  TrifBe  and  a  Col's  for  a  person  something  more 
deserving,  to  the  prejudice  of  a  valuable  man  Mr.  Swearingin, 
their  former  Major  who  had  been  absent  for  some  time  and  was 
Dayly  expected,  which  would  have  prevented  their  design,  to 
my  certain  knowledge  they  now  dread  the  Execution  of  what  a 
few  of  them  were  deluded  to  pray  for  again.  Col:  Donoldson, 
who  was  last  spring  chairman  of  the  Committee  that  endeavored 
to  subvert  the  Government  and  cost  us  soe  much  trouble  to 
overset,   since  bearing  an  important  Commission,  eScc. " 


74  l^ic  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

APPENDIX  I). 
Andrew  Steele  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia. 

(Virginia  ('alendar,  Volume  3.  page  303.) 

Fayette  County,  Kentucky,  Lexington,  Septeiu  12th,  1782. 

Sir:  The  present  Important  &  allannin^  Crisis  claim  the 
serious  attention  &  mature  Deliberation  of  Your  Excellency  (5v:  the 
Honorable  House.  The  frequent  Incursions  &  Hostile  Depredations 
of  a  Savage  Enem)'  uptjn  our  Exterior  Posts,  our  Dispersed  Legions, 
our  veteran  army  defeated,  our  Widows  Tears  &  orphan3  cries  grate 
strongly  on  the  Ear,  nay  Thunder  at  the  Door  of  your  Council, 
not  only  for  acts  of  consideration,  but  Protection  &  redress. 

To  express  the  feelings  of  the  Inhabitants  at  the  Ruefull  scenes 
of  Barbarities  daily  perpetrated  amongst  us,  barrs  all  words  &  cut 
Description  short.  So  fatal  is  the  stroke  that  a  second  similar  to 
that  we  ha%e  already  Rec'd  will  close  the  Catastrophy  &  Term- 
inate the  Intire  Devastation  of  our  County.  I  would  beg  leave  to 
inform  you  that  annually  since  the  seventeen  Hund'd  &  seventy- 
eight,  an  army  of  not  less  than  three  Hund'd  Saveges  Infested  our 
Territories  &  since  seventy-six.  Eight  Hundred  &  sLxty  Effective 
men  fell,  the  matchless  massacread  victims  of  their  unprecendented 
Cruelty.  A  few  of  the  primitive  adventurers  yet  sur\'ive,  who  sup- 
plicate your  Excellencies  Immediate  Interposition  in  their  behalf, 
in  granting  them  such  strength,  as  may  enable  them  to  carrj^  on 
an  offensive  war,  or  at  least  Act  in  the  Defensive  with  safety,  for 
if  some  mode  of  preservation  is  not  speedily  adopted  tlie  welthy 
will  forti'.with  Emigrate  to  the  Interior  parts  of  the  Settlement  & 
the  Poor  to  the  Spaniards.  Dreadful  alternative!  !  Nature  recoils 
at  the  thought!  —  further,  from  the  Jc.dous  apprehension  of  the 
Inhabitants  I  am  under  the  DisagreeahK;  necessity  of  Informing 
your  Excellency  that  from  the  Detainour  of  our  County  Surveyor 


Appendix.  75 

(from  whom  their  greatest  Expectations  of  strength  was  derived) 
they  are  Induced  to  believe  you  have  either  withdrawn  that  Paternal 
care  which  they  have  long  Rely'd  on  or  rather  the  Executive  Body 
are  Dubious  of  the  authenticity  of  their  claim  to  those  Western 
Territories  —  I  would  also  observe  that  the  many  Military  Opera- 
tions hitherto  Effected,  or  rather  intended  for  our  safety  (the  Seven- 
teen Hundred  &  Eighty  Indian  Expedition  excluded,  the  Honour 
whereof  is  Justly  due  to  the  militia)  have  centered  at  Louisville, 
a  Town  distant  one  Hund'd  miles  from  the  Center  of  our  County, 
to  which  together  with  Fort  Jefferson,  Elinois  &  St.  Vincennes, 
may  the  Innormous  Expence  of  the  Western  frontiers  be  Attrib- 
uted &  not  to  the  Counties  of  Kanetucky,  which  in  competition 
would  be  less  than  a  Mathematical  Point.  To  conclude,  Permit 
us,  once  more  the  Indigent  Offspring  of  an  oppulent  father,  if  not 
Equally  to  share,  yet  to  partake  of  your  Kind  patronage  &  Pro- 
tection &  beg  you  would  adopt  such  measures  as  your  Superior 
wisdom  mey  suggest  to  Promote  the  Peace,  welfare  &  Tranquility 
of  your  Suppliants  in  particular  &  the  Interest  of  the  Common- 
wealth in  Genl.  Then  shall  we  Congratulate  ourselves  in  having 
you  the  Illustrious  Patron  &  Protector  of  our  Lives,  Laws  &  Relig- 
ious Liberties,  when  the  annals  of  History  will  rank  your  name 
among  the  Bravest  &  Wisest  Politicians  &  Gratitude  like  a  Torrent 
v^ll  flow  from  the  Heart  of  every  Kanetuckian,  whilst  we  Experi- 
ence with  what  firmness  you  have  supported  our  interest.  Our 
universal  Joy  &  fervent  Expressions  of   Allegiance  &  Gratitude. 

These  public  Testimonials  of  our  Felicities  will  be  Too  con- 
vincing Proofs  to  Require  any  argument  to  support  them. 

The  Author  begs  leave  to  subscribe  himself  a  Friend  to  the 
Commonwealth   &  your  Excellency's  most   obed't   humbl.  Servant. 


76  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Lieks. 


appp:ni)1x  k. 

Extract  from  Boone's  Letter  to  Governor  Harrison. 

(Calendar  uf  Virf^inia  Stutr  Papers,  Volume  3,  paije  280.) 

See  also  report  of  Logan.  "  1  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
when  Your  Excellency  and  Council  become  acquainted  with  the 
military  operations  in  this  country,  that  you  will  not  think  them 
so  properly  conducted  as  to  answer  the  general  interests  of  Ken- 
tucky. From  the  accounts  we  had  received  by  prisoners,  who 
had  escaped  this  Spring,  we  were  confident  of  an  invasion  from 
the  Detroit  Indians.  Common  safety  then  made  some  scheme  of 
defense  necessary  for  which  purpose  I  was  called  upon  by  General 
Clark  to  attend  a  council,  and  after  consulting  matters  it  was 
determined  to  build  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  Licking,  and  shortly  I 
received  his  order  for  one  hundred  men  to  attend  this  business 
with  a  certain  number  from  Fayette.  Before  the  day  of  rendez- 
vous, I  was  instructed  to  send  the  men  to  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio  in 
order  to  build  a  strong  garrison  and  a  row  galley,  thus  by  weak- 
ening one  end  to  strengthen  another,  the  upper  part  of  the  coun- 
tr}'  was  left  exposed  and  the  enemy,  intercepting  our  designs, 
brought  their  intended  expedition  against  the  frcMitiers  of  Fayette." 
Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Volume  3,  page  281. 

See  also  address  of  Civil  and  Military  Officers  of  Fayette 
County:  "The  executives,  we  believe,  think  often  of  us  and  wish 
to  protect  us.  But  sir,  we  believe  an)-  militar}-  operations  that 
for  eighteen  months  have  been  carried  on  in  consequence  of 
orders  from  the  executive,  have  rather  been  detrimental  than 
beneficial.  Our  militia  are  called  on  to  do  duty  in  a  manner  that 
has  a  tendency  to  j)rotect  Jefferson  County,  or  rather,  Louisville,  a 
town  without  inhabitants,  a  fort  situtated  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
enemy,  coming  with  the  desi^^u  to  !a\'  waste  our  rountr\',  will  .scarcely 


Appendix.  77 

come  within  one  hundred  miles  of  it,  and  our  own  frontiers  open 
and  unguarded."     Virginia  State  Papers,  Volume  3,  page  301. 

Nor  was  General  Clark  slow  to  express  his  dissatisfaction  of 
the  conduct  of  the  officers  in  charge  at  Blue  Licks.  He  thought 
the  sacrifice  the  result  of  imprudence  and  recklessness,  and  he  has- 
tened to  inform  the  Governor  of  Virginia  that  the  responsibility 
in  the  matter  was  none  of  his. 

See  also  letter  of  General  Clark  to  Governor  Harrison,  dated 
Cove  Spring,  Lincoln  County,  October  18,  1782:  "Had  it  not 
been  for  that  imprudent  affair  at  the  Blue  Licks  the  country 
would  have  sustained  very  little  damage.  I  learn  Colonel  Logan 
has  sent  you  a  full  account  of  the  whole  transaction.  The  con- 
duct of  these  unfortunate  gents  was  extremely  reprehensible. 
The  enemy  continued  to  skulk  in  small  parties  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  but  do  little  damage  at  present."  The  Calendar 
of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Volume  3,  page  345. 

See  also  letter,  Clark  to  Governor  Harrison,  dated  Lincoln 
County,  November  30,  1782:  "Colonel  Todd's  militia  was  ex- 
cused from  all  other  duty  but  that  of  keeping  out  proper  scouts 
and  spies  on  the  Ohio  and  elsewhere  to  discover  the  approach 
of  the  enemy,  to  give  time  and  to  embody  a  sufficient  force  to 
repel  them,  as  it  could  not  be  previously  done,  not  certainly  know- 
ing in  what  quarter  they  would  make  their  stroke.  Instead  of 
those  necessary  duties  being  done,  in  which  their  salvation  appar- 
ently depended,  the  enemy  was  suffered  to  penetrate  deliberately 
into  the  bowels  of  their  country  and  make  the  attack  before  they 
were  discovered.  This,  I  believe,  is  what  is  wished  to  be  blinded 
and  the  neglect  to  be  one  of  the  principal  springs  to  that  mad  pur- 
suit and  carnage  of  the  Blue  Licks,  as  the  reverse  of  fortune 
would  have  obliviated  the  former  neglect."  The  Calendar  of  Vir- 
ginia State   Papers,  i>age  385. 


yS  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

APPENDIX  F. 

Extract  of  a  Lettlik  ikom  Captain  Caldwell,  Dated  at 
Wakitamiki,  August  26,  17S2. 

(Haldimanil   l*;ipers,  Series  H,  Volume   1 2.^,  paKC  2970 

When  I  hist  h:i(i  llic  pleasure  of  writing  }<)U  I  expected  to  have 
struck  at  Wheeling  as  I  was  on  my  march  for  that  })lacc,  but  was 
overtaken  by  a  messenger  from  the  Shawnese  who  informed  me  the 
enemy  was  on  their  march  for  their  country  which  obliged  me  to 
turn  their  way,  and  to  my  great  mortification  found  the  alarm  false 
iuui  that  it  was  owing  to  a  Gondals  coming  up  to  the  mouth  of 
Licking  Creek  and  landing  some  men  upon  the  South  side  of  the 
Ohio  which  when  the  Indians  saw  supposed  it  must  be  Clark.  It 
would  have  been  a  lucky  circumstance  if  they  had  come  on  as  I  had 
eleven  hundred  Indians  on  the  ground  and  three  hundred  within  a 
days  march  of  me.  When  the  report  was  contradicted  they  mostly 
left  us.  Many  of  them  had  left  their  towns  no  ways  equipped 
for  war,  as  they  expected  as  well  as  myself  to  fight  in  a  few 
days  ;  notwithstanding  I  was  determined  to  pay  the  enemy  a 
visit  with  as  many  Indians  as  w.ould  follow  me:  accordingly  I 
crosseil  the  Ohio  with  three  hundred  Indians  and  rcmgers  and 
marched  for  Bryants  Station,  Kentuck,  and  surrounded  the  Fort 
the  15th  in  the  morning,  and  tried  to  draw  'em  out  by  sending 
up  a  small  party  to  try  to  take  a  prisoner  and  shew  themselves, 
but  the  Indians  were  in  too  great  a  hurry  and  the  whole  shewed 
tofj  soon.  I  then  saw  it  was  in  \ain  tcj  wait  any  longer  antl 
so  drew  nigh  the  Fort,  burnt  3  houses  which  are  part  of  the 
Fort  but  the  wind  being  contrary  prevented  it  having  the  desired 
effect.  Killed  upwards  of  300  hogs,  1 50  head  of  cattle  and  a  num- 
ber of  sheep,  took  a  number  of  horses,  pulled  up  and  destroyed 
their    potatoes,    cut    down    a    great    deal     of     their    com,     burnt 


Appendix.  79 

their  hemp  and  did  other  considerable  damage.  By  the  Indians 
exposing  themselves  too  much  we  had  5   killed  and  2  wounded. 

We  retreated  the  i6th,  and  came  as  far  as  Riddle's  former 
Station,  when  nigh  100  Indians  left  me  as  they  went  after  their 
things  they  left  at  the  Forks  of  Licking  and  I  took  the  road  by 
the  Blue  Licks  as  it  was  nigher  and  the  ground  more  advantageous 
in  case  the  enemy  should  pursue  us,  got  to  the  Licks  on  the  17th 
and  encamped. 

On  the  1 8th,  in  the  morning  one  of  my  party  that  was  watch- 
ing the  Road  came  in  and  told  me  the  enemy  was  within  a  mile 
of  us,  upon  which  I  drew  up  to  fight  them.  At  half  past  seven 
they  advanced  in  three  Divisions  in  good  order,  they  had  spied 
some  of  us  and  it  was  the  very  place  they  expected  to  overtake 
us.  We  had  but  fired  one  Gun  till  they  gave  us  a  volley  and 
stood  to  it  very  well  for  some  time,  till  we  rushed  in  upon  them, 
when  they  broke  immediately.  We  pursued  for  about  two  miles, 
and  as  the  enemy  was  mostly  on  horseback,  it  was  in  vain  to  follow 
further. 

We  killed  and  took  one  hundred  and  Forty  six.  Amongst  the 
killed  is  Col.  Todd  the  Commander,  Col.  Boon,  Lt.  Col.  Trigg, 
Major  Harlin  who  commanded  their  Infantry,  Major  Magara  and 
a  number  more  of  their  Officers.  Our  loss  is  Monsr.  LaBute 
killed;  he  died  like  a  warrior  fighting  arm  to  arm,  six  Indians 
killed  and  ten  wounded.  The  Indians  behaved  extremely  well  and 
no  people  could  behave  better  than  both  Officers  and  men  in  general. 
The  Indians  I  had  with  me  were  the  Wyandots  and  Lake  Indians. 
The  Wyandots  furnished  me  with  what  provision  I  wanted,  and 
behaved  extremely  well. 

Endorsed:  —  Entered  in  Book  marked  B  No.  3  Page  31  Extract 
of  a  letter  from  Capt.  Caldwell  to  Major  De  Peyster,  dated  at 
Wakitamiki  Aug.  26th,  1782. 


Bo  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

APPENDIX  G. 

CoLONKL  Levi  Todd  to  CioviiUNoK  Hakuison  and  Council. 

'VirKioiit  Calendar,  Vohuii«  3,  paso  300.) 

Lkxinoton,  Faykttk   CoiNTY,   Kentccky,   ScpteiiiluT    iith,   1782. 

Sir:  Enclosed  is  a  ccjp}'  of  tlic  Recoinincndations  made  at 
our  last  court;  so  great  a  change  proceeds  from  a  cause  truly  lament- 
able, the  Loss  of  our  County  Lieutenants,  and  a  number  of  subaltans 
at  the  late  attacks,  but  particularly  at  our  defeat  at  the  Blue  Licks 
when  the  Enemy  put  us  wholly  to  the  Rout  —  the  circumstances 
&  particulars  are  these  —  On  the  i6th  of  August  a  party  of  Indians 
appeared  at  Brjants  &  b}'  their  behavoir  a  large  Party  was  sup- 
posed to  lie  around  the  Fort.  An  Express  was  sent  here,  my 
Brother  being  absent,  I  went  with  about  30  men  Discovery  and 
force  my  way  into  the  Fort,  near  Bryants  I  was  joined  with  about 
10  more,  finding  the  enemy  lay  round,  we  attempted  forcing  our 
way.  17  men  on  Horseback  rushed  in,  the  greater  part  of  rest 
being  on  foot  were  prevented  and  overpowered,  obliged  to  seek 
safety  by  flight  with  the  loss  of  one  killed  cS:  3  wounded,  one  of 
which  died  the  ne.xt  morning  —  I  immediately  despatched  an  Express 
to  Col:  Trigg  the  highest  officer  in  Lincoln,  demanding  assistance, 
&  also   Notice  to  Colo.   Jno.    Todil  then  in   Lincoln. 

The  Enemy  commanded  by  Simon  Girty  made  an  attempt  to 
fire  the  Fort,  but  were  prevented  with  much  Loss.  They  however 
kept  up  a  smart  fire  till  the  morning  of  the  17th  when  they  went 
of?  —  the  same  evening  Col:  Jno:  Todd  &  Colo.  Trigg  arrived  with  a 
party  of  men,  wh(j  with  what  \\c  could  raise  soon  made  170.  On 
the  morning  of  the  iSth  wc  j)ursiu'(i  on  their  Trail.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  19th  we  came  within  sight  of  the  Enemy  about  ^  of  a 
mile,  north  of  the  lower  Blue  Licks  —  we  dismounted  &  began  the 
attack  with  vigour,  from  our  left  the  enemy  retreated  &  we  gained 


Appendix.  8i 

ground.  Our  right  within  a  minute  or  two  gave  way  &  found  them- 
selves to  be  flanked  by  the  enemy.  Our  line  then  gradually  gave 
way  from  our  Right  to  our  Left  till  the  whole  broke  in  Confusion. 
The  action  lasted  about  five  minutes.  Our  loss  as  near  as  we  can 
ascertain  is  sixty-six,  among  whom  were  our  commanding  officer  Col: 
John  Todd,  Col:  Trigg,  Capts:  Gordon,  McBride,  Kinkaid  &  Over- 
ton, Major  Harlan,  Major  Bulger  (who  since  died  of  his  wounds) 
Mr.  Jos:  Lindsay  &  several  gentlemen  of  note  —  the  Enemy  we  sup- 
pose consisted  of  three  or  four  Hundred  —  they  took  some  prisoners, 
we  suppose  tho'  very  few,  upwards  of  40  were  found,  but  we  think  a 
number  more  lay  near  the  Battle  ground.  The  Enemy  must  have 
suffered  considerably,  a  great  part  of  our  men  fought  with  much 
Resolution  &  Activity.  The  conduct  of  the  Officers  is  by  some  cen- 
sured &  charged  with  want  of  prudence  in  attacking  at  any  Rate,  but 
as  we  had  no  chance  to  know  their  number,  we  thought  ours  was  not 
much  Inferior  &  supposed  we  should  by  a  fierce  attack  throw  them 
in  confusion  &  break  their  Lines.  We  are  much  alarmed  in  this 
County  &  fear  the  Consequence  will  be  very  detrimental  if  govern- 
ment cannot  give  assistance,  tho'  our  great  dependence  is  that  if  the 
County  surveyor  would  attend,  we  should  be  strengthened  with  addi- 
tional settlers  not  a  few. 

I  am  Sir,  Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  &  very  Humble 
serv'nt  &c.  &c. 

APPENDIX  H. 

From  Canadian  Archives  —  Colonial  Offick  Records. 
Series  II,  Volume  20,  Page  288. 

Sir:  My  letter  of  the  22nd.  and  23rd.  of  July  informed  you 
of  the  reports  brought  us  of  the  enemy's  motions  at  that  time 
which  was  delivered   by  the  Chiefs  of  the  Standing  Stone  Village 


82  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

and  confirmed  by  Belts  and  strings  of  Wampum  in  so  earnest  a 
manner  that  could  not  but  gain  credit  with  us.  We  had  upon 
this  occasion  the  greatest  Body  of  Indians  collected  to  an  advan- 
tageous piece  of  ground  near  the  Priowee  Village  that  have  been 
assembled  in  this  Quarter  since  the  commencement  of  the  War 
and  perhaps  may  never  be  in  higher  spirits  to  engage  the  enemy 
when  the  return  of  Scouts  from  the  Ohio  informed  us  that  the 
accounts  we  had  received  was  false.  This  disappointment  not- 
withstanding all  our  endeavors  to  keep  them  together  occasioned 
them  to  disperse  in  disgust  with  each  other;  the  inhabitants  of 
the  country  who  were  the  most  immediately  interested  in  keeping 
in  a  body  were  the  first  that  broke  off  and  tho'  we  advanced 
towards  the  Ohio  with  upwards  of  three  hundred  Hurons  and  Lake 
Indians,  few  of  Delawares,  Shawnese  or  Mingoes  followed  us.  On 
our  arrival  at  the  Ohio  we  remained  still  in  uncertainty  with 
respect  to  the  enemy's  motions,  and  it  was  thought  best  from 
hence  to  send  Scouts  to  the  Falls,  and  that  the  main  Body 
should  advance  into  the  enemy's  country  and  endeavor  to  lead 
out  a  party  from  some  of  their  Forts  by  which  we  might  be  able 
to  gain  some  certain  Intelligence ;  accordingly  we  crossed  the 
Ohio  and  arrived  the  i8th.  inst.  at  one  of  the  enemy's  settle- 
ments called  Bryan's  Station,  but  the  Indians  discovered  their 
numbers  prevented  their  coming  out  and  the  Lake  Indians  finding 
this  rushed  up  to  the  Fort  and  set  several  out  houses  on  lire  but 
at  too  great  a  distance  to  touch  the  Fort,  the  wind  blowing  the 
contrary  way.  The  firing  continued  this  day  during  which  time 
a  Party  of  about  twenty  of  the  enemy  approached  a  part  that 
happened  not  to  be  guarded  and  about  one  half  of  them  reached 
it  the  rest  being  drove  back  by  a  few  Indians  who  were  near  the 
place.  The  next  morning  finding  it  to  no  purpose  to  keep  up  a 
fire    longer    upon    the    P'ort    as    we    were    getting    men    killed    and 


Appendix.  83 

had  already  several  men  wounded,  which  were  to  be  carried,  the 
Indians  determined  to  retreat  and  the  20th.  reached  the  Blue 
Licks  where  we  encamped  near  an  advantageous  Hill  and  expect- 
ing the  enemy  would  pursue  determined  here  to  wait  for  them 
keeping  spies  at  the  Lick  who  in  the  morning  of  the  2 1  st.  dis- 
covered them  and  at  half  past  seven  o'clock  we  engaged  them  and 
in  a  short  time  totally  defeated  them.  We  were  not  much 
superior  to  them  in  numbers,  they  being  about  two  hundred 
picked  men  from  the  settlement  of  Kentucky  commanded  by  the 
Colonels  Todd,  Trigg,  Boone  and  Todd,  with  the  Majors  Harling 
and  McGary  most  of  whom  fell  in  the  action ;  from  the  best 
inquiry  I  could  make  upon  the  spot,  there  was  upwards  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  killed  and  taken  with  near  an  hundred  rifles, 
several  being  thrown  into  a  deep  River  that  were  not  recovered. 

It  was  said  by  the  Prisoners  that  a  Colonel  Logan  was 
expected  to  join  them  with  one  hundred  men  more  ;  we  waited 
upon  this  ground  to  day  for  him,  but  seeing  there  was  not  much 
probability  of  his  coming  we  set  off  and  crossed  the  Ohio  the 
second  day  after  the  action.  Capt.  Caldwell  and  I  arrived  at 
this  place  last  night  with  a  design  of  sending  some  assistance  to 
those  who  are  bringing  in  the  wounded  people  who  are  fourteen 
in  number.  We  had  ten  Indians  killed  with  Mr.  LeBute  of  the 
Indian  Department,  who  by  sparing  the  life  of  one  of  the  enemy 
and  endeavoring  to  take  him  prisoner  lost  his  own.  To  our  dis- 
appointment we  find  no  provisions  brought  forward  to  this  place 
or  likelyhood  of  any  for  some  time  and  we  have  entirely  subsisted 
since  we  left  this  on  what  we  get  in  the  woods  and  took  from 
the  enemy. 

The  Prisoners  all  agree  in  their  account  that  there  is  no  talk 
of  an  expedition  from  that  Quarter,  nor  indeed  are  they  able 
without  assistance  from  the  Colonies,    and  that  the  militia  of  the 


84  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

country  have  been  employed  during  the  summer  in  building  the 
Fort  ;it  the  falls  and  what  they  call  a  Ro\v-(ialley  which  has 
made  one  trip  up  the  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  big  Miami  imd 
occasioned  that  alarm  that  created  us  so  iiuich  trouble.  She 
carries  one  Six  Pounder,  six  four  Pounders  and  two,  two  Pound- 
ers and  rows  eighty  (jars.  She  had  at  the  Big  Bone  Lick  one 
hundred  men,  but  being  chiefly  draughts  from  the  Militia  many 
of  them  left  her  on  different  parts  of  the  River.  One  of  the 
Prisoners  mentions  the  arrival  (jf  Boats  lately  from  Fort  Pitt  and 
that  letters  have  passed  between  the  commanding  officer  of  that 
place  and  Mr.  Clarke  intimating  that  preparation  is  making  there 
for  another  expedition  into  the  Indian  Country. 

We  have  since  our  arrival  heard  something  of  this  matter  and 
that  the  particulars  have  been  forwarded  to  you.  A  Detachment 
of  Rangers  with  a  large  Party  of  Delawares  and  Shawnese  are  gone 
that  way  who  will  be  able  to  discover  the  truth  of  this  matter. 

I  am  this  day  favored  with  yours  of  the  6th.  August  contain- 
ing the  report  of  Isaac  Zeans  concerning  the  cruelties  of  the 
Indians.  It  is  true  they  have  made  sacrifices  to  their  revenge 
after  the  massacre  of  their  women  and  children  some  being 
known  to  them  to  be  perpetrators  of  it,  but  it  was  done  in  my 
absence  or  before  I  could  reach  any  of  the  places  to  interfere, 
and,  I  can  assure  you,  sir,  that  there  is  not  a  white  Person  here 
wanting  in  their  duty  to  represent  to  the  Indians  in  the  strongest 
terms  the  highest  abhorrence  of  such  conduct  as  well  as  the  bad 
consequences  that  may  attend  it  to  both  them  and  us  being 
contrary  to  the  rule  of  carrying  on  war  by  civilized  Nations. 
However  it  is  not  impracticable  that  Zeans  may  have  exaggerated 
matters  greatly  being  notoriously  known  for  a  disaffected  Person 
and  concerned  in  sending  Prisoners  away  with  Intelligence  to  the 
Enemy  at  the  time  Capt.  Bird  came  (nit  as  we  were  then  informed. 


Appendix.  85 

I  flatter  myself  that  I  may  by  this  time  have  an  answer  to 
the  Letter  I  had  the  honor  of  writinj^  to  the  Commander  in  Chief 
on  leaving  Detroit. 

Mr.  Elliott  is  to  be  the  bearer  of  this  who  will  be  able  to  give 
you  any  further  Information  necessary  respecting  matters  here. 

I  am  with  respect  Sir,  Your  most  obedt.  and  very  humble 
Servant,  (Signed)     A.  McKee. 

Shawanese  Country,  August  28th.  1782.      Major  De  Peyster. 

Indorsed  5  1782  From  Capt.  A.  McKee  to  Major  De  Peyster, 
Datd.  Augt.  28th.  1782.  In  Govr.  Haldimand's  No.  5  23rd.  Oct. 
1782. 

APPENDIX  I. 
Colonel  Daniel  Boone  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  275.) 

Fayette  County,  Boone's  Station,  August  30,  1782. 

Sir:  A  Circumstances  of  affairs  Causes  me  to  write  to  your 
Excellency  as  follows.  On  the  i6th  of  this  Instant,  a  large  num- 
ber of  Indians  with  some  white  men,  attacted  one  of  our  fronteer 
Stations,  known  by  the  name  of  Bryan's  Station.  The  seige  con- 
tinued from  about  Sunrise  til  ten  oclock  the  next  Day,  then  they 
marched  off.  Notice  being  given  to  the  Different  Stations  adja- 
cent, we  Immediately  collected  181  Horsemen  commanded  by  Colo. 
Jno:  Todd:  Including  some  of  the  Lincoln  County  Militia  Com- 
manded by  Colo.  Trigg,  and  having  pursued  about  40  miles,  on 
the  19th  Instant  we  Discovered  the  Enemy  Lying  in  wait  for  us, 
on  Discovery  of  which  we  formed  our  Column  into  one  Single  Line 
and  marched  up  in  their  front  within  about  forty  yards  before 
there  was  a  gim  fired:  Col:  Trigg  on  the  right,  my  Self  on  the 
Left,  Major  McGary  in  the  centre,  Major  Harlin  with  the  advance 
party  in  the  front  —  and  from  the  manner  we  had   formed,  it  fell 


86  The  Battle  of  tJie  Blue  Licks. 

to  my  lot  to  brinf^  on  the  attack,  which  was  done  with  a  very 
heavy  on  both  Sides:  and  extended  back  the  lines  to  Colo:  Trigg, 
where  the  Enemy  was  so  strong  that  they  rushed  up  and  broke 
the  right  wing  at  the  first  fire.  Su  the  Enemy  was  immediately 
on  our  backs,  so  we  were  obliged  to  Retreat  with  the  loss  of  yj 
of  our  men  and  12  wounded.  Afterwards  we  were  Reinforced  by 
Colo.  Logan,  which  with  our  own  men  amounted  to  460  Light 
Horse,  with  which  we  marched  to  the  Battle  ground  again.  But 
found  the  enemy  were  gone  off.  So  we  proceeded  to  bury  the 
dead  —  which  were  43  found  on  the  ground,  and  many  more  we 
Expect  Lay  about  that  we  did  not  see,  as  we  Could  not  Tarry  to 
search  verj'  close,  being  Both  Hungry  and  weary,  and  some  what 
Dubious  that  the  enemy  might  not  be  gone  quite  off,  and  by  what 
discover}'  we  could  make  we  conclude  the  number  of  Indians  to 
exceed  400 — now  the  whole  of  our  militia  of  this  County  does  not 
exceed  130.  By  this,  your  Excellency  may  draw  an  idea  of  our 
circumstance.  I  know  Sir,  that  your  Situation  at  present  is  some- 
thing critical.  But  are  we  to  be  totally  forgotten.  I  hope  not. 
I  trust  about  500  men  sent  to  our  assistance  Immediately,  and 
them  to  be  stationed  as  our  County  Lieutenants  shall  see  most 
necessaiy,  may  be  the  saving  of  this  our  part  of  the  Country, 
but  if  you  put  them  under  the  Direction  of  Genl:  Clarke,  they 
will  be  Little  or  no  Service  to  our  Settlement,  as  he  lies  100 
miles  West  of  us,  and  the  Indians  north  East,  and  our  men  are 
often  called  to  the  Falls  to  guard  them.  I  have  encouraged  the 
people  here  in  this  County  all  that  I  could,  but  I  can  no  longer 
Encourage  my  neighbors,  nor  myself  to  risque  our  Lives  here  at 
such  Extraordinary  hazzards.  The  Inhabitants  of  these  Counties 
are  very  much  alarmed  at  the  thoughts  of  the  Indians  bringing 
another  Campaign  into  our  Country  this  fall,  which  if  it  should  be 
the    case,   will    Break  these    settlements.      So  I   hope   your  Excel- 


Appendix,  87 

lency  will  take   it  into    consideration  and  send   us  some   Relief  as 
quick  as  possible. 

This  Sir,  is  my  sentiments  without  consulting  any  person.  I 
expect  Colo.  Logan  will  immediately  send  to  you  by  Express.  By 
whom  I  most  humbly  Request  your  Excellencies  answer,  mean- 
while I  remain,  Sir, 

Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  Humbl.  Serv't. 
A  List  of  the  Slain  —  Colo.  Jno.  Todd,  Lieuts:  Rogers, 

Colo.  Trigg,  McQuire, 

Maj :    Harlin.  Hinson. 

Capts:  —  Gordon,  Officers,    lo 

"  Kincade,  Privates,  67 

' '  McBride, 

77 
Overton. 

Wounded  12 


APPENDIX  J. 

Hugh  McGary. — McGary  never  himself  entered  into  any  writ- 
ten defense  of  his  conduct  in  this  battle.  Newspapers  in  that  day 
were  unknown  in  the  State,  and  his  only  chance  to  justify  his  con- 
duct would  be  by  oral  explanation. 

Forty  years  after  the  battle  McClung  in  his  Sketches  gives  the 
statement  of  a  gentleman  who  had  conversed  with  McGary  as  to  his 
part  in  the  action.  This  gentleman  related  that  he  met  McGary 
several  years  after  the  battle,  at  one  of  the  circuit  courts,  and  in 
conversation  McGary  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  battle,  and  with  great  heat  and  energy  endeavored  to  justify 
himself.  He  asserted  that  in  the  council  at  Bryant's  Station  the 
night  before  the  march  he  strenuously  urged  Todd  and  Trigg  to 
await  Logan's   coming,   telling  them    the    Indians  would  not  make 


88  The  Battle  of  the  Bine  Licks. 

a  precipitate  retreat.  He  said  Todd  scouted  his  advice,  claiming 
that  a  single  day  lost  would  enable  the  Indians  to  cross  the  river 
and  escape;  that  the  time  to  strike  them  was  while  they  were  in 
a  body;  that  the  talk  of  their  numbers  was  nonsense,  the  more 
the  merrier,  and  that  he  was  resolved  to  pursue  at  once,  and  that 
there  were  brave  men  enough  on  the  ground  to  enable  him  to 
attack  with  effect. 

This  nettled  him,  and  he  joinetl  eagerly  in  the  pursuit,  and 
when  they  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  Todd  and  Trigg 
began  to  talk  about  numbers,  position,  and  Logan,  he  burst  into 
a  passion  and  cursed  them  for  a  set  of  cowards,  and  swore  that 
as  they  had  come  so  far  for  a  fight  they  should  have  it,  and  that 
they  should  fight  or  he  would  disgrace  them;  that  now  it  should 
be  shown  who  had  courage  or  who  were  d  —  d  cowards,  and 
that  he  then  dashed  into  the  river  and  called  upon  all  who  were 
not  cowards  to  follow  him. 

McGary  spoke,  the  gentlemen  said,  with  bitterness  of  Todd 
and  Trigg,  and  swore  they  had  received  what  they  deserved,  and 
he,   for  one,   was  glad  of  it. 

This  story  was  wisely  withheld  f<jr  forty  years  after  the  battle. 
McGary's  subsequent  conduct  was  not  such  as  to  restore  him  to 
public  favor.  The  atrocious  murder  of  Moluntha  in  1786,  when 
with  Logan  on  his  invasion  of  the  Indian  town  in  Ohio,  stamps 
him  as  cruel,  base,  and  brutal,  and  the  declaration  that  in  the 
presence  of  their  troops  he  cursed  Todd  and  Trigg  and  denounced 
them  as  cowards  will  never  be  credited  upon  either  second  hand 
or  first  hand  statement  of  McGary. 

The  failure  to  find  his  name  connected  in  any  prominent  transac 
tion   in   the  history  of  Kentucky  during  his  after  life  is  demonstra- 
tion   that    his    conduct    was    condemned    by    those    who    were    his 
contemporaries. 


Appendix.  89 


APPENDIX  K. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Colonel  Levi  Todd  to  his  Brother, 
Captain  Robert  Todd. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  333.) 

Lexington,  Aug:  26th,  '82. 

On  the  1 6th  Instant,  in  the  morning  an  Express  arrived 
from  Bryant's  Station  informing  us  it  was  expected  a  Body  of 
Indians  lay  round  the  Fort.  I  set  off  with  30  men  to  see  if  it 
was  so,  and  before  I  got  there  (which  is  five  miles  distant)  was 
joined  by  10  men  from  Daniel  Boones.  I  found  the  Place  sur- 
rounded &  intended  to  force  our  way  in.  Seventeen  of  the  foremost 
Horsemen  rushed  in  ;  but  being  attacked  at  the  mouth  of  a  Lane ; 
the  remainder,  some  on  Horseback,  and  myself  and  Ten  others  on 
Foot,  were  forced  to  retreat,  leaving  one  man  killed,  and  having 
three  wounded,  one  of  whom  died  next  morning,  but  the  other 
two  will  recover. 

Our  Brother  being  over  in  Lincoln,  I  sent  Expresses  there 
desiring  assistance.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Indians  made  a  violent 
attack  upon  Bryants  Fort  and  continued  it  all  day  &  night:  and 
a  storm  was  expected.  However  they  met  with  some  Loss,  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  17th  went  off.  In  the  Evening,  our  Brother, 
Col:  Trigg,  and  Major  Macgary  came  with  130  men.  On  the 
morning  of  the  i8th  we  collected  182  men  all  on  Horseback,  and 
pursued  the  Enemy  till  8  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  19th, 
when  we  got  sight  of  them  forming  in  a  Ridge  in  a  Loop  of  the 
River,  about  three  Quarters  of  a  Mile  North  of  the  lower  blue 
Lick  and  over  the  Licking.  We  had  then  pursued  about  40 
miles.  We  rode  up  within  60  yards,  dismounted,  gave  and  sus- 
tained a  heavy  and  general  Fire.  The  ground  was  equally  favorable 
to  both  Parties  and   the  Timber  good.      The   left  wing  rushed   on 


90  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

&  gainL(i  near  lOO  yards  of  ground.  But  the  Right  gave  way, 
and  the  Enemy  soon  flanked  us  on  that  side,  upon  which  the 
center  gave  way  &  shifted  behind  the  left  wing.  And  immediately 
the  whole  broke  in  confusion  After  the  Action  had  lasted  about 
five  minutes.  Our  men  suffered  much  in  the  Retreat,  many 
Indians  having  mounted  our  men's  Horses,  haveing  open  woods 
to  pass  through  to  the  River,  and  several  were  killed  in  the  River. 
Several  efforts  were  made  to  rally,  but  all  in  Vain.  He  that  could 
remount  a  horse  was  well  off,  and  he  that  could  not  saw  no  time 
for  delay.  Our  Brother  received  a  Ball  in  his  left  Breast,  and 
was  on  Horseback  when  the  men  broke.  He  took  a  course  I 
thought  dangerous,  and  as  I  never  saw  him  afterwards,  I  suppose 
he  never  got  over  the  River.  Col:  Trigg,  Major  Harlin,  Major 
Bulger,  Captains  McBride,  Gordon,  KinKead  and  Overton  fell  upon 
the  ground,  also  our  friend  James  Brown.  Our  number  missing 
is  about  seventy-five.  I  think  the  number  of  the  Enemy  was  at 
least  300,  but  many  of  the  men  think  five  hundred.  Colo.  Logan 
with  500  men  went  to  the  ground  on  the  24th,  and  found  & 
buried  about  50  of  our  dead  men.  They  were  all  stript  naked, 
scalped  &  mangled  in  such  a  manner  that  it  was  hard  to  know 
one   from  another.      Our  Brother  was  not  known. 

As  people  in  different  parts  of  the  Country  will  be  anxious  to 
know  the  names  of  the  Killed,  I  will  add  a  List  of  what  I  can 
now  remember  — 

Colo.  John  Todd,  Col:  Stephen  Trigg  —  Major  Silas  Hardin, 
Major  John  and  Edward  Bulger  —  Captains  Wm.  McBride,  John 
Gordon,    Joseph    Kinkead,   and   Cluff   Overton  —  Lieutenants  Wm. 

Givens,  John  Kenncday  & Rogers — Ensign  John  MacMurtry. 

Privates  —  Francis  McBride,  John  Price,  James  Ledgerwood,  John 
Wilson,  Isaac  MacCracken,  Lewis  Rose,  Mathias  Rose,  Hugh  Cun- 
ningham, Jesse  Yoeum,  William  Eadds,  Esau  Corn,  William  Smith, 


Appendix.  91 

Henry  Miller,  Ezekiel  Field,  John  Folley,  John  Fry,  Val  Stern, 
Andrew  MacConnell,  James  Broown  (Surgeon),  William  Harris, 
William  Stewart,  William  Stevens,  Charles  Ferguson,  John  Will- 
son,  John  O'Neal,  John  Stapleton,  Dan'l  Greggs,  Jervis  Green, 
Drury  Policy,  William  Robertson,  Gilbert  Marshall,  James  Smith, 
and  Joseph  Lindsay. 

APPENDIX  L. 
Colonel  Arthur  Campbell  to  Colonel  William  Davies. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  337.) 

Washington   County,  Virginia,  October  3rd,  1782. 

Sir  :  From  Colonel  Christian  and  the  accounts  sent  by 
Major  Netherland,  the  Executive  may  be  fully  informed  of  the 
State  of  the  War  in  the  Kentucky  Country.  What  if  it  should 
be  the  policy  of  the  British  Ministry  to  drive  in  from  the  other 
side  the  Apalachian  mountain  before  the  signing  the  preliminaries 
of  peace. 

At  any  rate  they  are  united  the  Savage  Tribes,  and  endeav- 
oring to  sow  the  seeds  of  deep  laid  animosity,  which  will  lengthen 
the  Indian  war  to  a  longer  period  than  most  imagine.  Nothing 
now  will  put  an  end  to  it,  but  a  decided  blow  in  the  enemy's 
country,  and  a  peace  given  them  in  the  hour  of  their  panic  and 
misfortune,  afterwards  conducted  by  a  proper  Superintendency,  or 
that  Canada  becomes  ours,  or  our  Allies. 

The  method  of  arming  and  arraying  our  militia  ought  to  be 
varied.  The  Bayonet  and  Scymeter  must  be  introduced  to  enable 
us  now  to  face  the  Indians.  And  Evolutions  suited  to  the  woods 
should  be  learned  by  both  Foot  and  Horse.  All  our  late  defeats 
have  been  occasion  thro'  neglect  of  these,  and  a  want  of  a  proper 
authority  and  capacity  in  the  Commanding  Officers.  Never  was 
the   lives  of  so  many  valuable    men   lost   more   shamefully  than  in 


92  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

the  late  action  of  the  19th  of  Au^njst,  and  that  not  a  little  thro* 
the  vain  and  seditious  expressions  of  a  Majtjr  McGeary.  How 
much  more  hami  than  good  can  one  fool  do.  Todd  &  Trig^^  had 
capacity,  but  wanted  experience.  Boone,  Harlin  and  Lindsay  had 
experience,  but  were  defective  in  capacity.  Good,  however,  would 
it  have  been,  had  their  advice  been  followed.  Logan  is  a  dull, 
narrow  body,  from  whom  nothing  clever  need  be  expected.  What 
a  figure  he  exhibited  at  the  head  of  near  500  men  to  reach  the 
field  of  action  six  days  afterwards,  and  hardly  wait  to  bury  the 
dead,  and  when  it  was  plain,  part  of  the  Indians  were  still  in  the 
Country.  Genl.  Clarke  is  in  that  country,  but  he  has  lost  the  c(jn- 
fidence  of  the  people,  and  it  is  said  become  a  Sot ;  perhaps  some- 
thing worse. 

The  chance  is  now  against  General  Irvine's  succeeding ;  dis- 
appointed in  Clark's  co-operation,  which  he  was  promised,  and  it 
is  said  set  out  with  only  1,200  men.  Simon  Girty  can  outnum- 
ber him  ;  and  flushed  with  so  many  victories,  to  his  natural  bold- 
ness, he  will  be  confident. 

This  state  of  our  Western  Affairs  calls  for  the  united  wis- 
dom and  most  serious  attention  of  the  Executive. 

The  Carolinas  are  gone  on  with  their  Expedition  against 
those  Cherokees,*  they  say  that  gives  an  asylum  to  Tories. 

I  ^\^sh  they  may  succeed,  but  still  dread  the  consequence  of 
multiplying  our  Enemies.  Two  Chickasaw  Chiefs  have  been  at 
the  Carolina  settlement  on  the  Shawanee  or  Cumberland  River, 
from  thence  they  came  to  our  settlement  on  Kentucky.  Peace 
arc  their  profession,  but  complain  of  our  making  settlement  at  the 
Iron   Bank,  on  the    Mississippi. 

I  esteem  your  person,  and  like  your  politicks,  therefore  send 
you  this  communication,  merely  for  your  private  information. 

I  am,  sir,  with  usual  respect  }our  very  humble  servant,  etc. 


Appendix,  93 

APPENDIX  M. 

Colonel   Benjamin    Logan   to    Governor    Harrison,  giving    an 
Account  of  the  Disaster  at  Blue  Licks. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  280.) 

Lincoln  County,  August  31st,  1782. 
Sir  :  I  beg  leave  to  present  your  Excellency  &  Council  with 
one  of  the  most  melancholly  events  that  has  happened  in  all  this 
Western  Country.  On  the  14th  inst.,  Captain  Holden,  from  Fay- 
ette, pursued  a  party  of  Indians  who  had  made  prisoners  of  a 
couple  of  boys  in  his  neighborhood  ;  he  overtook  them  and  was 
repulsed  with  the  loss  of  four  men.  On  the  i6th,  a  considerable 
army  appeared  before  Bryant's  Station,  Under  the  command  of 
the  noted  Simon  Girty,  and  many  other  white  men ;  they  attacked 
the  Station  closely,  and  defeated  different  parties  endeavoring  to 
throw  in  assistance,  but  without  much  loss  on  our  side.  An 
Express  was  immediately  dispatched  to  Col:  John  Todd,  who  at 
that  time  was  in  this  County  in  the  neighborhood  of  Col:  Trigg. 
On  the  17th,  at  night,  I  received  a  letter  from  Col:  Trigg,  wherein 
he  informed  me  of  what  had  passed.  Orders  were  immediately 
given  for  every  man  to  turn  out,  and  on  Sunday,  the  i8th,  I 
crossed  the  Kentucky  with  a  considerable  detachment,  &  the  day 
after  arrived  at  Bryant's,  where  I  understood  the  Indians  had 
raised  the  seige  &  were  followed  by  Col:  John  Todd,  with  135 
of  the  Lincoln  militia  under  Col:  Trigg,  and  45  of  the  Fayette 
under  Col.  Bowman.  Dreading  the  consequences  that  might  ensue 
from  this  precipitate  affair,  I  immediately  pushed  within  a  few 
miles  from  Bryant's.  We  were  met  by  about  25  men,  who 
informed  —  of  a  total  defeat  at  the  Big  Blue  Licks  on  Licking.  I 
covered  their  retreat,  and  marched  back  to  Bryant's,  where  I  col- 
lected 470  men,  and  the  24th  went  to  the  battle-ground  and  buried 


94  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

43— our  loss  in  this  action  is  50  missing  from  Lincoln,  and  1 5 
from  Fayette,  among  whom  are  Colls:  Todd  and  Trigg  (Trigg  was 
quartered).  Major  Harlan,  Capts:  McBride.  Gordon,  Kinkaid  & 
Overton,  &  Lieuts:  Givings,  Kennedy,  McMartry,  Rogers  &  McGuire, 
and  Mr.  Jc^seph  Lindsay,  our  Commissary. 

From  the  situation  of  the  ground,  on  which  our  men  were 
drawn  up  on  (the  plan  whereof  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  enclose) 
I  hardly  know  how  it  was  possible  for  any  to  escape.  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that  when  your  Excellency  &  Council  become 
acquainted  with  the  military  operation,  in  this  country,  that  you 
will  not  think  them  so  properly  conducted,  as  to  answer  the  gen- 
eral interest  of  Kentucky.  From  the  accounts  we  have  received 
by  the  prisoners  who  had  escaped  this  spring,  we  were  con- 
fident of  an  invasion  from  the  Detroit  Indians ;  Common  safety, 
then  made  some  scheme  of  defense  necessary;  for  which  purpose, 
I  was  called  upon  by  Genl:  Clark  to  attend  a  Council,  Jind  after 
consulting  matters,  it  was  determined  to  build  a  Fort  at  the  mouth 
of  Licking  —  &  shortly  I  received  his  orders  for  100  men  to  attend 
this  business,  with  a  certain  number  from  Fayette.  Before  the 
day  of  rendezvous,  I  was  instructed  to  send  the  men  to  the  Falls 
of  Ohio,  in  order  to  build  a  strong  Garrison,  and  a  row  Galley, 
thus  by  weakening  one  end  to  strengthen  another,  the  upper  part 
of  the  country  was  left  exposed,  and  the  enemy  intercepting  our 
designs,  brought  their  intended  expedition  against  the  Frontiers  of 
Fayette.  The  immense  expenses  incurred  by  the  state  in  this 
western  Country,  we  know  is  enough  to  prevent  the  Government 
from  giving  us  any  further  aid ;  but  when  your  Excellency  and 
Council  are  informed  that  the  people  have  never  been  benefitted 
by  those  expenditures,  we  still  hope  your  compassion  will  be 
extended  to  a  detached,  distressed  part  of  your  country,  as  it  is 
not   in  the  power  of  the  People  to  answer  the  misapi">lication  of  any 


Appendix.  95 

thing  by  a  proper  officer.  Genl:  Irwin,  commanding  at  Fort  Pitt, 
as  a  continental  officer  might  probably  be  more  assistance  to  this 
country  could  he  receive  proper  supplies  from  the  state  of  Virginia, 
than  any  other  measure  that  could  be  adopted  —  As  he  has  the 
same  enemies  to  encounter  that  trouble  us,  and  stores  of  every 
kind  seem  to  be  of  little  account  to  us  (ammunition  excepted)  — 
Col:  Trigg  being  killed  there  is  a  Field  officer  wanting  in  this 
county:  however  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed  on  the  occasion,  for 
all  our  magistrates  have  been  killed  except  three;  and  there  can 
be  no  Court  to  send  a  recommendation.  Col:  Harod  formerly 
acted  as  a  Colonel,  and  who  agreeable  to  seniority  ought  to  have 
received  a  commission,  is  now  in  being  &  I  think  a  very  proper 
person  for  that  purpose. 

Before  I  conclude  I  must  beg  leave  to  suggest  to  your 
Excellency  &  Council,  that  a  defensive  war  cannot  be  carried  on 
with  the  Indians,  and  the  Inhabitants  remain  in  any  kind  of  safety. 
For  unless  you  can  go  to  their  towns  and  scourge  them,  they 
will  never  make  a  peace;  but  on  the  contrary  keep  parties  con- 
stantly in  your  country  to  kill;  and  the  plunder  they  get,  answers 
them  instead  of  Trade.  Some  days  past,  a  white  man,  one  Mr. 
Simon  Burney,  with  his  Indians,  arrived  at  this  place  in  company 
with  two  warriors,  with  talks  from  the  Chickasaws  nation  —  wherein 
they  inform  us  of  their  desire  to  conclude  a  peace,  and  the  reasons 
that  urged  them  to  war;  which  was  Genl:  Clarke's  settling  Fort 
Jefferson  on  their  Hunting  Grounds,  without  consulting  them  first, 
and  are  now  enquiring  for  him.  They  own  they  have  done  mis- 
chief in  this,  as  well  as  the  infant  settlement  on  Cumberland. 
Should  your  Excellency  &  Council  think  proper  to  hold  a  treaty 
with  these  People,  Col:  John  Donelson,  who  has  before  served  as 
an  Agent  for  the  state  is  willing  to  transact  any  business  of  that 
kind. 


96  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

Since  uiiting  the  fore^oinp^  lines,  I  have  received  certain 
information  that  Kinchelow's  Fort  in  Jefferson  was  burned,  and 
37  souls,  made  prisoners.  Your  Excellency  &  Council  will  please 
to  indulfje  nie  a  few  moments  longer,  when  I  take  the  liberty  to 
add  the  situation  of  470  persons  who  surrendered  themselves 
prisoners  of  war  to  a  British  Officer,  then  in  command  from 
Detroit,  with  a  great  number  of  Indians.  As  well  as  I  recollect 
these  unhappy  people  were  captured  in  June  1780.  And  from 
authentick  intelligence  that  we  have  received,  they  were  actually 
divided  in  the  most  distressing  manner  that  could  be  invented. 
Many  of  the  men  were  taken  to  Detroit  &  their  wives  retained 
among  the  Indians  as  slaves.  Some  of  the  men  are  now  at  Mon- 
treal cSl  others  in  different  parts  towards  the  Lakes.  As  the 
British  were  the  perpetrators  of  this  cruel  piece  of  mischief.  I 
think  b}'  the  articles  of  the  Cartel,  for  the  exchange  and  relief  of 
Prisoners  taken  in  the  Go:  Department,  and  subsequent  measures 
taken  by  the  different  commissioners  for  that  purpose,  it  is  their 
business  immediately  to  deliver  up  in  this  country,  at  some  Amer- 
ican Post,  all  the  prisoners  then  taken  —  or  retaliation  be  had 
on  our  part.  Unless  they  are  guarded  back,  they  will  never  get 
through  the  Indian  country. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  &c.  &c.  &c. 

The  diagram  of  the  battle-ground  contains  the  following  note  : 

"  TIk:  Indians  kept  the  path  from  Bryants  to  the  licks,  and  when 
Colo.  Todd  arrived  at  the  Top  of  the  hill  on  this  side  of  the 
river,  the  enemy  made  a  shew  of  ab't  30  in  the  bend.  Our  men 
marched  over  upon  the  Hill.  The  Indians  had  a  very  strong  line 
in  front  which  extended  from  one  point  of  the  river  to  the  other. 
They  had  Hankers  and  also  a  party  in  the  rear  in  order  to  pre- 
vent a  retreat.      As  the  river  was  very  deep  only  at  the  licks  and 


Appendix.  97 

the  clifts  so  steep  that  a  passage  was  impracticable  only  where 
they  first  marched  in.  thus  circumstanced  the  Savages,  sure  of 
victory  rushed  immediately  up  and  threw  our  men  into  confusion. 
What  escaped  returned  mostly  by  way  of  the  Lick,  many  were 
killed  after  they  were  made  prisoners,  as  they  were  seen  tied. 

"From  Bryant's  Station  to  the  Blue  licks  ab't  40  miles  & 
from  thence  to  the  Ohio  ab't  20  or  25.  The  Bent  of  the  river 
was  generally  ab't  ^  mile  over  &  from  the  top  of  the  ridge  each 
way  made  down  small  dreans.  In  these  places  lay  many  indians 
undiscovered  until  the  attack  begun. 

' '  It  appears  near  all  the  warriors  on  this  side  of  De  Troit 
were  on  this  expedition;  some  allow  600  or  more. 

"Major  Bulgar  was  mortally  wounded,  and  is  since  Dead." 


APPENDIX  N. 
Andrew  Steele  to  Governor  Harrison  of  Virginia. 

(Virginia  Calendar,  Volume  3,  page  269.) 

Lexington,  Ky.  August  26,  1782. 

Sir.  Through  the  Continued  series  of  a  Seven  Years  vices- 
situde,  nothing  has  happened  so  alarming,  fatal  &  Injurious  to  the 
Interest  of  the  Kanetuckians  in  Particular  &  all  its  votaries  in 
General,  as  the  present  Concatination  of  Hostilities,  wherewith  I 
am  now  to  acquaint  your  Excellency. 

The  Fifteenth  of  this  Inst:  Bryan's  Station  was  Beseiged  by 
a  number  of  Indians,  whereof  I  am  not  able  to  form  a  Just  Esti- 
mate: the  Attack  continued  warm  for  about  Thirty  Hours,  During 
which  Period,  the  Enemy  burned  several  exterior  Houses,  killed 
three  of  our  men  &  made  large  Depredations  on  the  neat  stock 
&  Crop,  they  then  Retired  leaving  three  of  their  Savage  party 
dead  on  the  ground,  besides  a  number  circumstantially  so. 


98  The  Battle  of  the  Blue  Licks. 

The  Seventeenth,  we  were  Reinforced  from  Lincohi,  with 
one  hundred  &  fifty  Horse  men,  Commanded  by  Lieut:  Col: 
Stephen  Trigj^  cS:  Joined  by  a  few  of  the  Fayette  Commanded  by 
Col.  Jno.  Todd,  who  composed  an  Ariii\'  of  one  Hundred  &  Eighty 
Two.  We  followed  them  to  the  Lower  Blue  Licks,  where  Ended 
the  Direful  Catastrophy.  in  short  we  were  defeated  —  with  the 
loss  of  seventy-five  men  —  among  whom  fell  our  two  Commanders 
with  many  other  officers  cSc  soldiers  (jf  Distinguished  Bravery.  To 
express  the  feelings  of  the  Inhabitants  of  bcjth  the  Counties  at 
this  Rueful!  scene  of  hitherto  unparalleled  Barbarities  Barre  all 
words  (St  cuts  Description  short. 

The  Twenty  fifth,  five  hundred  of  the  Lincoln  militia  com- 
manded by  Colo.  Benjamin  Logan  (who  hitherto  had  neither 
been  consulted  nor  solicited  to  our  assistance)  marched  to  the 
Battle  ground  in  Expectation  of  a  second  Engagement,  but  the 
Enemy  had  march'd  several  Days  before,  from  the  order  of 
their  march,  with  many  other  accruing  circumstances,  their  num- 
ber was  supposed  to  be  nearly  six  Hundred. 

Forty  seven  of  our  Brave  Kenetuckians  were  found  in  the 
field,  the  matchless  massacraed  victims  of  their  unprecedented 
Cruelt}'  —  We  are  led  to  conceive  that  none  were  captivated, 
from  a  number  found  at  the  crossing  of  the  Creek  tied  &  Butch- 
ered with  knives  &  spears. 

Laboring  under  these  Distressing  Circumstances  we  rely  on 
your  goodness  (actuated  from  a  principle  of  Universal  Benevo- 
lence which  is  the  distinguishing  Characteristic  of  the  truly  great 
&  noble  soul)  that  we  will  not  only  become  the  subjects  of  your 
commiseration,  but  of  your  Patronage  &  Protection  also,  the  Bal- 
lance  stands  upon  an  Equilibrium  &  one  stroke  more  will  cause 
it  to  Preponderate  to  our  Irretrievable  Wo,  &  terminate  in  the 
Intire  Breach  of  our  Country,  if  your  Excellency  is  not  concerned 
in  our  Immediate  safety  — 


Appendix. 


99 


The  Author  of  this  narrative  is  a  Person  in  a  private 
sphere  of  life  &  hopes  that  your  forgiving  Candour,  will  induce 
you,  to  not  only  pardon  the  Intrusion,  but  the  many  Inaccuracies 
that  may  appear  through  the  whole  of  this  Illiterate  &  undi- 
gested Detail  —  as  it  comes  from  a  welwisher  to  American  Liberty 
&  your  Excellency's  most  obed't  H'ble  Servt. 


APPENDIX  O. 

Officers  and  Men  Who  Were  Killed  at  the  Battle  of  the 

Blue  Licks. 


Todd,  John, 


COLONELS. 


Trigg,  Stephen. 


Harlan,  Silas, 


MAJORS. 


Bulger,  Edward. 


CAPTAINS. 


Beasley,  John, 
Bulger,  John, 
Gordon,  John, 
Kincaid,  Joseph, 


Lindsay,  Joseph, 
McBride,  William, 
Overton,  Clough. 


LIEUTENANTS. 

Givins,  William,  McGuire,  

Hinson,  ,  Rogers,  Barnett. 

Kennedy,  John, 


SURGEON. 

Brown,  James. 


lOO 


The  Batik  of  the  Bhie  Licks. 


rKIVATKS. 

Boone,  Israel, 
Com,  Esau, 
Cunningham,  Hugh, 
Eads,  William, 
Ferguson,  Charles, 
Field,  Ezekiel, 
Folley,  John, 
Foster,  Daniel, 
Fry,  John, 

Graham,  James  (little), 
Greggs,  Daniel, 
Green,  Jervis, 
Harris,  William, 
Ledgerwood,  James, 
Marshall,  Gilbert, 
McBride,  Francis, 
McConnell,  Andrew, 


McCracken,  Isaac, 
Miller,  Henry, 
Nelson,  John, 
O'Neal,  John, 
Price,  John, 
PoUey,  Drury, 
Rose,  Mathias, 
Robertson,  William, 
Smith,  James, 
Smith,  William, 
Stewart,  William, 
Stephens,  William, 
Stapleton,  John, 
Stern,  Val., 
Willson,  John, 
Wilson,  John, 
Wilson,  Israel. 


Officers  and  Men  Who  Escaped  at  the  Battle  of  the 

Blue  Licks. 

COLONEL. 

Boone,  Daniel. 


Todd,  Levi, 


MAJORS. 


McGary,  Hugh. 


captains. 


Patterson,  Robert, 
Johnson,  Samuel, 


Ellis,  William. 


Appendix. 


lOI 


ENSIGN. 

McMurtry,  John, 


PRIVATES. 

Boone,  Samuel, 
Boone,  Squire,  junior, 
Bradford,  John, 
Cooper,  Benjamin, 
Craig,  Jerry, 
Craig,  Whitfield, 
Field,  William, 
Graham,  James, 
Grant,  'Squire, 
Hayden,  Benjamin, 
Harget,  Peter, 
Kincaid,  James, 


May,  William, 
Morgan,  James, 
McCullough,  James, 
Netherland,  Benjamin, 
Reynolds,  Aaron, 
Rose,  James, 
Rose,  Lewis, 
Smith,  John, 
Steele,  Andrew, 
Twyman,  Stephen, 
Wilson,  Henry, 
Yocum,  Jesse. 


THE  UNIVERSITY'  LIHRAKV 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


DEC  2  7 


\m 


ir. 


NON-RniEWABLE 


MAY  17:1990 
DUE  2  WKS  FROM  DATE  RECEIVED 

XJN   1  1  Mi 


L  005  414  990   1 


AA    001  029  399    i 


